When the Cold Wind is a Callin'
by Finmonster
Summary: Winter has come to Berk, and with it the annual holiday of Snoggletog. Now, Hiccup and Merida will not only find themselves having to deal with the challenges presented by Berk's newest inhabitants, but also a mysterious stranger looking for someone he believes only they can find. Sequel to the Dragon and the Bow.
1. The Holiday Season

**When the Cold Wind is a Callin'**

**Chapter 1: The Holiday Season**

The North is many things to many people. Hard. Fierce. Grim. But one word describes the North better than any other.

Cold.

Even in the dead of summer, snow still clings to the high places of the North. In winter though, cold infused the North, ice and snow blanketing forests, fields and valleys across all the various lands that made up the region, from the Highlands to the Norselands, from the Steppes in the east to Arendelle clinging to the southernmost portion.

Winter in the North was a time of hardship and this year appeared to be no different. People huddled in their homes, keeping fires burning in their hearths to stay warm, living off of the food they had been preparing and storing all year. All in all, winter was a joyless time in the North.

Except on the island of Berk. This year, winter had taken a much more positive turn.

The sun was rising in the east, the sunlight glittering off the fresh snow that had fallen the night before as the sky turned from dark purple to a bright pink. The rising sun began to waken life on the island. Sheep began to venture from their shelters into their frozen pastures as roosters in their coops called out to greet the day. One creature in particular was more active than the others however.

Flitting through the town that occupied the area surrounding the island's one safe harbor, a long shadow dashed across the white snow, kicking up flurries in its wake. The creature looked like a giant black salamander with large, bat-like wings. Two fins grew from the end of its tail, one organic, the other a prosthetic made of cloth and metal, colored bright red with a skull drawn in white on it.

He was a Night Fury. He was a dragon.

Racing up a hill at the edge of the village, the Night Fury leapt onto a house that sat on the border of the forest that dominated much of the island. Latching his claws into the wooden walls, the Night Fury pulled himself up onto the thatch roof of the house. Growling, he began pounding on the top of the room, shaking it and causing snow to go sliding off.

The thudding echoed through the simple home, especially in the room directly below the dragon. The room was a bedroom where a young man slept. He looked about sixteen years old with shaggy auburn hair, a slim build and a pale complexion. He woke with a start as the dragon's banging shook the whole room. Grumbling, he ran a hand through his hair and turned his green eyes towards the ceiling.

"Alright! Alright!" the young man called out with a slightly nasal voice as he threw off his blanket and sat up on his bed, "I'm up!"

As he swung his legs over the side of his bed, the young man revealed that his left leg ended just below the knee. Reaching to the side of his bed, the young man grabbed a prosthetic leg made of metal and leather before strapping it onto the stub of his leg. After flexing his leg experimentally, the young man pushed himself to his feet.

Moving to his wardrobe, the young man quickly grabbed some fresh clothes and threw them on. He threw a pair of long wool underwear on under his brown trousers and covered his foot with a black wool sock before pulling on a brown leather boot. He quickly tossed on a green tunic that he tucked into his pants and strapped on a thick leather harness before throwing a brown fur coat on over all of it. As he made his way towards the door of his room, he paused to pick up a horned, iron helmet sitting next to his bed and placed it on his head.

Exiting his room, the young man closed the door behind him as movement caught his eyes. Glancing over, the young man noticed a young woman exiting her own room just down the hall from him. She was of the same age of him with a slim build and an even paler complexion. She was dressed in black wool trousers that were tucked into her leather boots along with a brown fur coat over a leather harness and a light blue tunic. She wore a dark blue, wool knit cap that contrasted with her curly, fiery red hair peaked out from under the hat. In her hand, she carried a carved recurve bow and she had a quiver full of arrows slung over one shoulder.

"Mornin' Hiccup," the young woman greeted with a smile and a light voice thick with accent, her icy blue eyes sparkling as she looked at him.

"Moring Merida," the young man, Hiccup, replied with a smile of his own, "He wake you up too?"

"Toothless cud wake th' dead if he tried hard enough," Merida commented with a giggle. As if to answer, a roar came from outside as the roof shook again.

"He's getting' impatient," Merida observed, glancing up at the ceiling before turning her attention back to Hiccup and leaned forward, capturing his lips in a kiss. The two stayed like that for a few moments before Merida pulled back again, giggling at the goofy smile that crossed Hiccup's face.

"We shudnae keep him waitin'," Merida commented with a smirk as she walked past him.

"I suppose we shouldn't," Hiccup agreed with a chuckle as he turned around and followed Merida down the hall. At the end of the hall, Hiccup and Merida descended a flight of stairs to the first floor, which was occupied largely by a combination of a living room and a kitchen. As they reached the first floor, Merida and Hiccup came across a large man working in the kitchen.

He was a hulking man, standing tall over Merida and Hiccup with broad shoulders and a barrel chest. He had the same auburn hair as Hiccup, long enough to tie into a small ponytail. A long beard covered most of his face, the braided ends fanning across his chest. He wore a sea green tunic along with brown wool pants and wool socks over his large feet.

"Mornin'," he greeted with a deep voice as he looked at the two teens with blue eyes.

"Mornin', Stoick," Merida replied.

"Morning, Dad," Hiccup echoed with a sheepish smile, "Hope we didn't wake you up."

"I rise with the dawn, son," Stoick answered before another bang shook the house, "Though I'll be cross if that dragon of yours puts a hole in my roof."

"We'll go take care of that," Hiccup replied as he walked over to a rack where a few hooded cloaks hung. Hiccup grabbed a forest green cloak while Merida grabbed a dark blue one, each wrapping the cloaks around their shoulders and securing them with iron clasps. They then each grabbed a pair of fur-lined, leather gloves sitting on a table nearby and pulled them on. They quickly made their way out the front door, Hiccup closing the door behind them.

The cold wind cut through the two of them, causing them to shiver as they pulled their cloaks closer, Merida pulling her hood over her head for extra warmth. As they exited the house, they looked up towards the roof of the building, where they saw the dragon looking down at them, grumbling.

"See, we're up, Toothless" Hiccup stated as he and Merida began making their way around the house, "Happy now?"

Toothless grumbled some more and made a face down at Hiccup. Hiccup smirked and made a face back at Toothless, causing Merida to laugh which the young man quickly joined in on. As they walked, the two of them suddenly stepped on a patch of ice which sent them sliding across the frozen ground. Hiccup grunted as he fell onto his back, before wheezing as Merida sat hard on his chest.

As Hiccup groaned in pain, the wind seemed to pick up around them and for a second he could hear ethereal laughter on the breeze before a snowflake floated up and landed on his nose. As the snowflake melted against his skin, a rush of joy swept over him before he started laughing. As Merida recomposed herself, she looked down at Hiccup laughing under her before a giggle crawled up her throat, quickly growing into a joyous laugh of her own. Up above them, Toothless added his own deep throated laughter to the mix as Merida stood up and carefully helped Hiccup to his feet.

"Careful now," Merida chided with a giggle, "It's a wee slippery taeday."

"Yeah, I noticed," Hiccup answered with a chuckle.

As the two made their way off of the ice patch, Toothless climbed off of the roof onto the snow-covered ground before rubbing his head against Hiccup, who smiled and pet the dragon's scales.

"Alright pal," Hiccup stated with a smile, "I take it you want to go for a fly?"

Toothless bounced up and down excitedly in response, earning a chuckle from both Hiccup and Merida.

"I'll take that as a yes," Hiccup commented with a grin, "Well, come on then; we should go get Boudica before we get the two of you saddled up."

With that, the three of them made their way around the house to where a small stable sat. As they approached the stable, they could see another dragon curled up inside. This dragon was sky blue in color, with yellow spines running down its back. Instead of having four legs like Toothless, this dragon had two, while its forelegs ended in bat-like wings with yellow claws at the corners. Its raptor-like head had a jaw full of sharp teeth that poked out from its mouth while its tail ended in a number of sharp spines. The dragon lay in a pile of hay, its wings and tail wrapped around it as it snored lightly.

As they approached the stable, a crow came flying out, cawing as it circled around Merida's head. Smiling, Merida held out her arm, offering the crow a place to land. The crow took the offer, landing on her arm before shuffling over and sitting on Merida's shoulder.

"Good mornin', Varis," Merida greeted as she reached up and stroked the crow's feathers. As she did, she noticed the dragon in the stable perk its head up, prompting Merida's smile to grow wider.

"An' good mornin' tae ye, Boudica," Merida said as the dragon picked herself up and gave herself a shake. Walking over, she pet the dragon on her head, prompting Boudica to chirp happily at Merida.

"Ye up fer a ride?" Merida questioned, to which Boudica nodded her large head excitedly, "Alright then, let's get ye saddled up."

Merida and Hiccup took a few minutes retrieving the two large saddles, both specifically designed for their respective dragons. After getting both dragons saddled up, Hiccup and Merida pulled themselves on to the creatures' backs and hooked their harnesses to the saddles. Placing his feet into the stirrups, Hiccup tested the lever built into one of them which worked Toothless' prosthetic fin, opening and closing it at his command.

"Alright, everything looks all set," Hiccup stated before turning his attention to Merida, "How about you, Mer?"

"Ready whenever ye are, Hic!" Merida declared with a smile as Boudica pawed at the ground impatiently.

"Alright!" Hiccup declared excitedly as he gripped the saddle tightly, "Let's go!"

With that, Toothless leapt into the air, flapping his large wings to carry him and Hiccup into the sky, Boudica and Merida following closely behind. Varis cawed from the ground before flapping his wings rapidly and chasing after the two dragons.

Hiccup let out a whoop of joy as he soared through the air on Toothless' back, the wind wiping around him. Looking back, Hiccup heard Merida's excited laughter as she and Boudica chased after him. After reaching a high point in the air, Toothless and Boudica evened out, gliding far above the island. Varis cawed as he joined them, gliding between Toothless and Boudica.

"Whit now!?" Merida called over to Hiccup.

"Now?" Hiccup questioned as a smile spread across his face, "Now, we have some fun!"

With that, Hiccup unstrapped himself from Toothless' saddle before sliding off the side and falling through the empty air, prompting Toothless to fall along with him as his artificial fin closed up. Merida gasped in shock as she watched the two plummet to the ground as Hiccup let out another cry of joy. As the two fell, Hiccup and Toothless looked at one another, the Night Fury smiling at the young man, his tongue wagging comically in the wind. Reaching out, Toothless batted Hiccup with one of his paws, sending the Viking spinning through the air, laughing as he fell. Slowing his spin, Hiccup grabbed hold of Toothless before pulling himself back into the saddle. Latching himself in, Hiccup flared Toothless' wings, causing the Night Fury to pull up just before hitting the ground. With the wind whipping in their wake, the two went swooping over the village, kicking up flurries of snow as they passed over the rooftops.

As the two slowed down, Hiccup let out another whoop of joy as Toothless began to glide over the bay.

"What do you think, pal?" Hiccup questioned as he patted Toothless on the side, "You think that impressed her?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the sound of Merida's cry of excitement came rushing towards him. Turning, he saw Merida gripping Boudica's back as the two shot through the sky in a steep dive. They rocketed past Hiccup and Toothless, heading straight for a group of rocks that towered over the water just off of Berk's shores. Boudica's wings flared as they approached the rocks, slowing the Nadder to a more controllable speed. As they approached a pair of rocks that sat huddled together, Merida pulled Boudica to the side, prompting the Nadder to close her wings up again as go spinning between the rocks. Quickly opening her wings again, Merida and Boudica flew towards a natural bridge that connected two of the rocks. Unhooking herself from Boudica's saddle, Merida eased herself to her feet so she was standing unsteadily on the Nadder's back. Right before they reached the bridge, Merida leapt off of Boudica's back, prompting the Nadder to go swooping underneath the rock formation as the princess landed on top of it. The rock was slick with sea water and newly formed ice, causing Merida to slip and slide over the stone. She managed to keep her balance and when her momentum carried her to the other side of the bridge, she hopped off the edge and flipped forward before landing perfectly in Boudica's saddle as the Nadder came flying up from under the bridge.

"How's 'at!?" Merida called up to Hiccup as she latched herself back to Boudica's saddle, laughing with mirth.

"I guess that would be a no," Hiccup commented as he and Toothless looked on in surprise before the young man turned his attention back to the Night Fury, "What do you say, pal? Want to give it a try?"

Toothless grunted and nodded in reply, prompting Hiccup to laugh and pat the Night Fury on the head.

"Alright," Hiccup said as he gripped Toothless' saddle tight and took a calming breath, "Here goes nothing!"

With that, Toothless dove in the direction that Boudica had gone, folding his wings to increase his speed. The Night Fury easily spun between the two rocks before leveling out as he and Hiccup approached the rock bridge. Unhooking himself, Hiccup quickly pushed himself to his feet and stood unsteadily on Toothless' back. Just as they reached the bridge though, Toothless' artificial fin snapped shut, sending the Night Fury plummeting downwards just as Hiccup leapt off his back. The sudden shift caused Hiccup to go flipping through the air, sending him flying over the bridge as Toothless continued to fall with a startled roar.

As the two went falling through the air, the wind suddenly seemed to pick up around them in a swirl of snowflakes, changing the direction they were falling. Instead of falling into the icy sea, they landed on a lower rock that was covered in snow, hitting with a soft thump as loose flurries went flying in every direction.

Hiccup groaned as he pulled himself out of the pile of snow, shaking loose flakes off as he tried to steady his spinning head.

"Are ye okay!?" Merida called out in concern as Boudica landed on the rock and she slipped off the Nadder's back as Varis landed nearby. Pulling himself up, Hiccup glanced over at Toothless, who was pulling himself out of the snowbank, snorting flakes off of his nose.

"Yeah, I think we're okay," Hiccup replied with a smile, before he was nearly knocked back down as Merida pulled him into a hug.

"Daenae scare me like 'at!" Merida said, half angry, half relieved, "Ah thought ye were gaein' intae th' water fer sure!"

"Me too," Hiccup admitted, "The wind shifted though and pushed us over here. Lucky, I guess."

"Why's there sae much snow here?" Merida questioned as she looked over the small rock they stood on.

"What do you mean?" Hiccup asked in confusion.

"Look at all th' other rocks," Merida explained, gesturing to the other outcroppings that surrounded them, "They daenae hae nearly as much snow as this ane does."

"Weird," Hiccup agreed before shrugging his shoulders, "Anyway, I think we should be getting back to the village."

"Aye," Merida agreed, "'At's enough flyin' fer ane mornin'."

With that, the two climbed back onto their dragons and took off, flying back to the village, ignorant to the ethereal laughter that followed in their wake.

_Later,_

Hiccup sat in the smithy, the glow from the furnace warming and illuminating the shop, Toothless laying curled up on the ground behind him. He sat at his workbench, a sword laying in front of him next to his helmet. The sword was shorter than most, especially by Viking standards. It was made of finely polished steel that reflected the light back at Hiccup and the blade was curved and honed to an incredibly sharp edge. Old Norse runes were carved into the blade near the hilt. Hiccup stared at the blade pensively, lost in thought as he looked at his own reflection. He held his right hand in the air next to him, periodically clenching and unclenching his hand. His sleeve was rolled up to the elbow, revealing the spiraling red burn that ran the length of his arm. The burn resembled a pair of long, skinny dragons weaving around each other until they reached his hand where they faced each other on his palm, a fireball suspended between their open mouths.

Pausing, Hiccup shifted forward and reached out towards the sword with his burnt hand. He held his hand a few inches from the blade, hesitant to go further. Looking closer, Hiccup could see the space between his hand and the blade was starting to ripple like the air above a fire.

A knock from the door brought his attention back to reality.

"Doors open!" Hiccup announced as he pulled his hand away and rolled his sleeve back down, Toothless raising his head as he looked inquisitively at the door, "Come on in!"

The door opened and Merida stepped in with Varis on her shoulder and another young man in tow. The young man towered over the other two with broad shoulders and a heavy belly. He wore a heavy brown cloak over an equally heavy and brown fur coat and wool pants. Thick leather boots dripped with snow as he walked in and he rubbed his hands together for warmth, despite the fact that he already was wearing a pair of red wool gloves. A red wool scarf was wrapped around the bottom half of his round face and a small horned helmet sat on top of his head, his short, straw blonde hair sticking out from underneath.

"Oh, hey guys, what's up?" Hiccup questioned.

"It's getting' late," Merida explained, "Me an' Fishlegs came tae fetch ye fer supper."

"Wow, it's already that late?" Hiccup questioned, surprised, "I must have lost track of the time."

"Doing what?" the young man, Fishlegs, asked, "It's not like you've had a lot to do since Gobber left."

"Just trying to figure a few things out," Hiccup replied with a shrug as he picked the sword up off his workbench, absentmindedly clenching and unclenching his burnt hand.

"Still trying to figure out what Bemuhen is made out of, huh?" Fishlegs questioned, looking the blade over with his light blue eyes.

"It's not like any metal I've ever seen before," Hiccup explained as he looked at the sword again, "If I could just figure out what it is and how to get it…well, I could do some pretty cool stuff."

"Ah bet," Merida agreed with a chuckle, "Surely 'at's nae th' anly thin' ye've been workin' on."

"No," Hiccup agreed with a shake of his head, "I've been working on saddle designs for everyone and trying to upgrade my own. After what happened today, I was thinking of finding a way to lock Toothless' fin in place so I don't always have to be there for him to fly."

"That would be pretty handy," Fishlegs agreed.

"I've also been looking into some upgrades for my crossbow," Hiccup explained, laying his sword back down before turning to a nearby bench and picking the weapon in question, a finely crafted piece of machinery made of polished wood and metal.

"What are you trying to do with it?" Fishlegs questioned as he walked over to Hiccup's side.

"Trying a few things to make it easier to carry," Hiccup explained as he pulled down on the crossbeams of the weapon, causing them to click into place along the sides of the stock. Hitting a small button caused the crossbeams to spring back into place with a snap.

"Nice," Fishlegs commented with an impressed nod.

"Thanks," Hiccup replied with a smirk as he set the crossbow down again, "I've also been working on a way to load arrows into it faster."

"Ye're lucky ye didnae get killed loadin' it last time," Merida pointed out as she leaned against one of the workbenches, melting snow dripping off the bottom of her boots as Varis hopped off her shoulder and began going through a few of the papers sitting on the bench.

"Exactly," Hiccup agreed with her, "It's not something I want to risk again."

"Whit are these?" Merida questioned as she turned her attention to the papers sitting on the workbench, shooing Varis out of the way.

"Just some ideas I've been playing with," Hiccup explained, walking over to Merida's side and indicating to one of the papers, "These are some sketches for an artificial leg better suited to dragon riding."

"What's this one?" Fishlegs questioned as he wandered over as well and indicated to the sketch of a hollow broadsword with an unusual looking pommel.

"I've been playing around with some ideas based off utilizing things we have now that we have dragons," Hiccup elaborated, "Ways to use dragon scales, Nightmare saliva, Zippleback gas…"

"Black rock?" Merida added.

"Black rock," Hiccup agreed with a nod of his head, "This is one of those ideas. The blade folds into the pommel and can be extended out, like the crossbow. There will be a store of Nightmare saliva in the pommel that coats the blade as it extends."

"Why wud ye want tae dae 'at?" Merida questioned in confusion.

"Because then the blade can be ignited," Fishlegs elaborated, nodding his head in understanding, "How will you ignite the saliva though?"

"I've been studying the Zipplebacks and I think I've figured out a way to mimic what the igniter head can do," Hiccup elaborated, "I was going to see if I can't build my own igniter into the sword so you can set off a spark and ignite the saliva whenever you need to. I might even be able to store some Zippleback gas in the pommel for the wielder to utilize."

"'At sounds amazin', Hic!" Merida exclaimed, clearly impressed.

"I've never even heard of a weapon like this," Fishlegs commented as he looked over the sketches with wonder, "What are you going to call this?"

"Probably something simple, like a dragonblade or something like that," Hiccup answered with a shrug.

"Ye designin' yerself a replacement sword, Hic?" Merida questioned with a smirk.

"No, I like Bemuhen just fine," Hiccup replied with a chuckle, "But I'm sure if we put a sword like this into the right hands, that person could do some serious damage."

"No kidding," Fishlegs agreed with a nod, "Just got to make sure they don't light themselves on fire."

"I might have a solution for that too," Hiccup stated before he pulled out another sheet which showed various designs for pieces of light armor.

"Whit is this?" Merida questioned.

"Dragonhide," Hiccup replied solemnly.

"Hiccup," Merida said, slightly aghast, "Ye daenae mean tae…"

"No," Hiccup assured her, "Never. But dragons get old and die and as ghastly as it seems it might be useful to use what they leave behind."

"Maybe," Merida stated, though she didn't look fully convinced, "Whit wud ye use it fer?"

"Well, not only is dragonhide tough, it's also fireproof," Hiccup explained, "That could be handy for a dragonrider, especially because it should also be lighter than metal armor."

"Interesting, if a bit grim," Fishlegs agreed.

"It's all just ideas right now," Hiccup explained with a shrug.

"Well, Ah think Ah've had enough o' broodin' over yer inventions fer ane night," Merida stated as she took a step away from the workbench, "Ah'm starved an' Ah understand there's saeme sort o' feast gaein' on taenight in th' Great Hall."

"Oh right," Hiccup replied as he remembered what day it was, "Tonight's when Dad starts the annual Snoggletog celebrations."

Merida stared at him in confusion for a few quiet moments.

"Whit th' bloody Hel is Snoggletog?" Merida questioned.

"It's an annual Viking winter celebration that marks the end of the year," Fishlegs explained with a shrug, "It's all about togetherness, and happiness and giving and all that good stuff."

"Oh, Ah see," Merida replied in understanding, "It sounds a little like Hogmanay."

It was now Hiccup and Fishlegs' turn to look confused.

"What's Hogmanay?" Hiccup asked as he moved to grab his coat and cloak from a peg on the wall.

"It's th' end o' th' year celebration in th' Highlands," Merida explained as she moved towards the door, Varis flapping back up onto her shoulder, "Ah'll hae tae share saeme o' th' traditions with ye lot. After all, Ah'm sure Ah'm gaein' tae be learnin' a lot aboot Snoggletog."

Merida paused for a moment.

"Why's it called Snoggletog anyway?" Merida asked, looking at Hiccup as he put his coat.

"Beat's me," Hiccup answered as he put on his cloak, "I always thought it was a pretty stupid name."

Merida laughed as she opened the door and led them all out into the snow, Hiccup pausing to grab his helmet before closing the door and locking the smithy behind him. The four of them quickly made their way across the village to where the mighty Great Hall stood, eager to get out of the cold wind that tugged at their cloaks and nipped at their noses.

As they arrived at the Great Hall, they found it already bustling with people. Lanterns were being hung from the rafters and columns, making the Hall look brighter than Merida had ever seen it. At the same time, colorful decorations were being set up and strands of garland were being hung between the columns. All around them, Vikings and dragons alike were at work, happily helping one another set up the decorations.

"Wow," Merida said in wonder as she looked around, "Ah didnae think it wud be this colorful."

"This is nothing," Hiccup stated, walking past her into the Hall, "Wait until you see the tree."

"Tree?" Merida asked as she followed behind, "Whit tree?"

Fishlegs chuckled as he watched them go before his attention was drawn to a dragon that wandered up to him and nudged him with its nose. The dragon was a squat, round creature with a thick neck and a bulbous nose. It had a cavernous mouth filled with sharp teeth and black-on-yellow eyes. Its scales were brownish in color and had four stubby legs and small wings that looked like they could not support the dragon's weight.

"Hey, Meatlug," Fishlegs greeted the dragon, patting it on its head, "You been helping Mom put up the decorations?"

"Among other people," a new voice spoke up, bringing Fishlegs' attention to a young woman his own age who was approaching him. She was a head shorter than Fishlegs with a lithe but athletic build. She had shoulder length blonde hair that she wore in an elaborate braid that hung down and sat on her shoulder while her bangs hung in front of one of her cold blue eyes, most of it held back by the red leather headband she wore. She wore a red tunic that fit her form closely. Her shoulders were covered by iron pauldrons and a large food head that was held up by an iron ring. A fur skirt hung from her waist, with iron spikes and decorative skulls attached to it under which she wore a pair of navy blue leggings. She wore matching leather, fur-lined boots and bracers while a few wrappings covered her biceps.

"Oh, hey Astrid," Fishlegs greeted with a slightly nervous smile, "What's up?"

"Not much," Astrid shrugged as she pat Meatlug on the neck, "Just helping your parents set up some decorations."

She indicated over her shoulder to two people, a man and a woman. That man was thick and heavy set with dark brown hair while the woman was slim with blonde hair. The woman sat on the man's shoulders, trying to wrap a strand of garland around one of the columns. Seeing Fishlegs, she smiled and waved enthusiastically, which caused the man to lose his balance and almost drop her.

Fishlegs snorted at the sight before turning his attention back to Astrid.

"They look like they can use all the help they can get," Fishlegs observed.

"Exactly my thinking," Astrid replied before she reached down and took Fishlegs' hand before leading him through the crowd towards his parents. Fishlegs blushed before smiling slightly as he allowed the smaller girl to tow him along.

_Later,_

Soon enough, the assembled Vikings and dragons took a break from putting up their decorations in order to feast with one another. The sound of conversation, eating and dragons grunting at one another filled the hall, even to the back where a smaller table had been set up with on a raised dais. Stoick, Hiccup and Merida sat at the table, joined by three others. One was a bent old woman with long, braided grey hair and a helmet with long, tall horns on her head. An equally old and gnarled staff that was taller than she was sat next to her, leaning against the table. The second was a tall, muscular, gruff-looking man with dark hair and a short beard, dressed mostly in black, wearing a helmet with tall horns. The final person was a young man the same age as Hiccup and Merida, thick set and broad shouldered with black hair, blue eyes and a stubbly beard. He wore a black fur cloak over an equally black jacket and brown pants, his feet covered by brown, fur-lined, leather boots.

"And that's how I saved Hiccup and Fishlegs from the Terrible Terror when we were kids," the young man said to Merida, a cocky grin on his face.

"Right," Merida stated, cocking her eyebrow at the young man sitting next to her, "Ah think ye're full o' shite, Snotlout."

"Oh come on, Princess!" Snotlout whined, holding his hand out towards Hiccup, "Hiccup was there, he'll tell you I'm telling you the truth!"

"Yeah, of course," Hiccup said sarcastically, "Snotlout totally didn't run screaming from the house after the Terror bit him on the ass."

Merida laughed as Snotlout groaned with embarrassment and ran a hand over his face.

"Betrayed by my own cousin," Snotlout sighed, "What kind of world is it where blood means nothing anymore?"

Snotlout paused before glancing back at Merida.

"You know, I still got the scar from where it bit me," Snotlout pointed out.

"'At's wonderful, Snot," Merida replied with false sincerity, "Ah'm sure saeme poor, desperate lass will love tae see it saemeday."

"Really?" Snotlout asked in surprise.

"Nae."

Hiccup snorted at Merida's curt reply. As he laughed, he looked out over the Great Hall, smiling as he looked out at all the happy members of the village. Families eating with one another. Friends sharing drinks. Children playing with the dragons that were becoming so welcomed in the village. The sight warmed his heart as much as the fires burning in the firepits warmed the hall.

Suddenly, the doors were pushed open and a cold chill swept through the hall. While the abrupt opening of the door caught most of the Vikings' attentions, the presence of a stranger was what kept it.

After pushing the doors closed again, the stranger turned towards the center of the hall, allowing the Vikings to see his features. He was a large man, standing just as tall as Stoick and was equally thick. He wore a thick, red coat that hung to his knees and was lined with black fur that also covered his shoulders, a black, leather sword belt holding it shut while a curved sword hung from each hip. He wore an odd hat made of the same black fur as well as a pair of thick, brown leather boots. His hair was snow white and a thick beard hung down to his chest. He smiled as he looked around the hall, his blue eyes seeming to twinkle in the firelight.

The man had not entered alone either. Joining him was a large reindeer, its antlers sprouting high above its head as it regarded the hall with dark eyes. The man chuckled as he continued to observe the hall, his attention seemingly focused entirely on the decorations the Vikings had set up, patting the reindeer on its brown colored side.

There was a moment of stunned silence before Stoick stood up from his seat, eyeing the stranger wearily.

"Excuse me," Stoick began to say, prompting the stranger to whirl around and look at him like he just realized the chieftain was there.

"Oh, _privet_!" the man said with deep, raspy voice and an accent Hiccup had never heard before, "Hello! You are being Stoick ze Vast, da?"

"I am," Stoick replied, caught off guard by the man's friendly and forward nature, "Who might you be?"

"Of course, how rude of me," the man stated with a chuckle before bowing dramatically, "I am being Nicholas St. North, humble traveler."

"And zis," the man continued, straightening back up and patting the reindeer on the side, "Is my companion, Donner."

The reindeer snorted at the sound of his name.

"How did you get here?" Stoick questioned, growing more confused by the second.

"I traveled," Nicholas provided, "I am being traveler, remember?"

"Yes, but how did you get on our island?" Stoick pressed, "No boats have come in for days."

"I traveled," Nicholas replied as he looked around for help, "Zis is vord, correct?"

"Yes, yes, fine," Stoick sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, "Why are you here then?"

"I am looking for someone," Nicholas answered, "I vas hoping you could help?"

"You need my help to find someone?" Stoick questioned.

"No, no, not you," Nicholas stated with a chuckle before his twinkling eyes fell on Hiccup, "But maybe you."

"Me?" Hiccup asked in confusion as he felt all eyes turn to him.

"_Da_," Nicholas stated, a broad smile crossing his features, "I am theenking I will be needing your help, Hiccup Dragonrider."

A/N: And we're back! I know I said I would wait until after I finished Seven Days in Corona to start this one but all your feedback got me so excited I just had to start it. I really liked the way this chapter turned out and I hope you guys like all my additions! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	2. North

**Chapter 2: North**

It didn't take long for Stoick to have the Great Hall emptied after Nicholas had made his announcement to Hiccup. Currently, only seven people remained in the Hall. Stoick stood before Nicholas, flanked by Spitelout and a large, blonde woman dressed in armor. Gothi stood to the side with Hiccup and Merida, both of them watching Nicholas wearily. Nicholas, for his part seemed to be oblivious to the looks he was getting. Instead, he was focused on Toothless who was observing the reindeer, Donner who was looking back at the Night Fury impassively.

"You should be careful," Spitelout observed, "Looks like Toothless is eyeing your deer for dinner."

"No need for concern," Nicholas replied dismissively, "He ees only looking."

"I'm surprised your deer isn't scared," Hiccup stated.

"Donnor ees being too proud to be scared of anyzing," Nicholas replied with a laugh as he turned and smiled at Hiccup, "Even a Night Fury."

"Nicholas," Stoick began to speak, pausing as the man in question held up his hand.

"Please, be calling me North," he insisted with another smile, his attention turning to the decorations hanging from the rafters.

"Alright," Stoick agreed, looking wearily at the other man, "North. Do you mind if we ask you some questions?"

"Certainly!" North stated as he walked around the hall, looking at the decorations, "I am liking zese, vat are zey for?"

"It's for a holiday," Stoick replied, thrown off by North's question, "Snoggletog."

"Snoggletog?" North questioned, making a face as he looked back at Stoick, "Terrible name."

"Can we get back to the point at hand here?" Stoick asked, growing more annoyed by the second.

"Of course," North replied with a chuckle, turning his attention back to the decorations, "You vanted to be asking questions."

"Right," Stoick grumbled, glaring at North, "First, I wanted to know how you got on our island."

"I traveled," North stated with a shrug as he looked over his shoulder at Stoick, "Remember? Ve talk about zees before."

"Enough games!" Spitelout snapped, pointing a finger at North, "You know what we're asking you. Quit jerking us around."

"Alright, alright," North chuckled as he turned to face Stoick fully, holding his hands up in a sign of peace, "I vas only pulling on ze leg."

Walking up to Stoick, North motioned the chieftain closer, prompting him to lean closer to the traveler.

"Can you keep secret?" North whispered conspiratorially.

Stoick nodded his head.

"Vell, between you and me," North stated, indicating to Donner with his eyes, "Ze reindeer…can fly."

A blank look fell over Stoick's features as North smiled at him. The two looked at one another for a moment before Stoick's hands shot out and grabbed North by his jacket, yanking the traveler closer as the two of them stood up straight.

"Enough of your games!" Stoick bellowed in North's face, "You're going to tell me what you're doing on my island and what you want with my son or gods' help me, I'm going to-"

"Dad!" Hiccup shouted, giving Stoick pause as he turned to look at his son, "This isn't helping."

"He's the one spouting nonsense, not me!" Stoick said, pointing an accusatory finger in North's face, poking the other man's nose, causing him to go cross-eyed so he could look at it.

"I know," Hiccup agreed, "But I don't think we're going to get what we want from him by beating it out of him. Let me try talking to him."

"Fine," Stoick grumbled, letting go of North's coat and shoving the other man half a step back. North gave Stoick a distasteful look as he brushed himself off and straightened his coat before turning his attention to Hiccup as the young man approached him.

"Uh, hi," Hiccup greeted the taller man awkwardly.

"_Privet_," North replied with a nod, "Your father ees being a very…aggressive man."

"Yeah, I know," Hiccup replied with a chuckle before he cleared his throat and continued, "So, uh, you said you needed my help finding someone?"

"_Da_," North replied with a smile and another nod.

"Why me?" Hiccup asked, arching an eyebrow at North.

"Because you and I have heard ze same message," North answered as he leaned closer to Hiccup.

"Message?" Hiccup asked in confusion, "What message?"

Without warning, North reached down and grabbed Hiccup's right wrist before jerking it up. The other's jumped forward to stop him, but stopped as North eyed them all, holding up his other hand to show that he meant Hiccup no harm. Slowly, he reached over to Hiccup's arm with his other hand and pulled the sleeve down, revealing the burn on the young man's arm.

"One cannot be touched by fire vizout being burnt, Hiccup Dragonrider," North stated as he looked Hiccup right in the eye.

"Loki," Hiccup whispered in understanding, "Loki's talked to you?"

"I talk to ze flames," North said with a shrug as he let go of Hiccup's wrist and stood up straight again, "Sometime zey talk back."

"If Loki sent you that means the person who you're looking for…" Hiccup paused as he looked North in the eye, "You're looking for the spirit. The one he told me about. The young god."

"_Da,_" North confirmed.

"How can I help you?" Hiccup questioned uncertainly, "I don't know anything about spirits and gods."

"You are knowing more zan most," North reassured him, "But I am not needing you for vhat you know, I am needing you for vhat you are."

"And what's that exactly?" Hiccup pressed.

"A good man," North answered with a smile only adding to Hiccup's confusion.

"Okay, so you need me," Hiccup stated with a helpless shrug, "Where would we even look? Plus, it's the middle of winter, not the best time to be traveling."

"He's nae gaein' anywhere withoot me," Merida spoke up defiantly as she walked up next to Hiccup and took his hand, looking up at North and daring him to challenge her, Varis cawing loudly from her shoulder.

"Relax, _Printsessa_," North assured her, "Ve are not going anyvhere."

"We're not?" Hiccup asked in confusion.

"_Net_," North replied before pointing at the ground, "Because he ees being here on Berk."

"Are you telling me there is…a god…here on Berk?" Stoick asked, a look of shock on his face.

"_Da,_" North affirmed with another nod.

"How do you know?" Gothi questioned, speaking up for the first time.

"Because I am knowing him," North explained as he looked over at Gothi.

"Ye know him?" Merida asked incredulously, "Ye _know_ him?"

"_Da_, of course!" North answered with another laugh, "I have been knowing heem hees whole life!"

"His whole life?" Hiccup asked, surprised.

"_Da_, he ees not being very old," North explained, "Only twenty, twenty one years."

"Whit's he like?" Merida questioned, tilting her head inquisitively, Varis mirroring the motion from his perch on her shoulder, "Whit kind o' spirit is he?"

"He ees ze wind and he's ees ze cold," North stated, "He ees joy…and he ees loneliness."

North looked around at the others, who he held in rapt attention, before chuckling.

"Mostly, I just call heem Jack," North stated with a smile.

"Jack?" Spitelout questioned, crooking an eyebrow at North.

"Jack Frost," North replied with a shrug, "It is being ze name he prefers."

"What is he doing here?" Gothi asked.

"I am not knowing," North answered with a shrug.

"You don't know?" Stoick questioned in confusion, "I thought you've been traveling with him for twenty years."

"I have been knowing him for twenty years," North corrected, "I do not alvays travel vith heem. He is ze wind. He comes and he goes. It is being hees way."

"So, do you have any idea about why he's here?" Hiccup asked.

"I am believing he ees looking for someone," North answered.

"So, we're trying to find someone…who's trying to find someone?" Spitelout questioned, an incredulous look on his face.

"_Da,_ exactly," North agreed, pointing at Spitelout and nodding.

"Who is he lookin' fer?" Merida asked.

"I am not knowing," North answered with a helpless shrug, "Ve veell be needing to ask heem when we find heem."

Merida and Hiccup shared a dissatisfied look as Varis ruffled his feathers.

"That's not a lot to go on, uh, North," Hiccup pointed out.

"_Da_," North agreed, scratching the back of his neck as he offered Hiccup an apologetic smile, "But I am knowing zat if ve vork together, ve veell find him. Is small island, after all. Not many places vhere he could be hiding."

"Ye'd be surprised," Merida commented knowingly as Varis cawed in agreement on her shoulder.

As Merida and Hiccup talked with North, Stoick motioned for his lieutenants and Gothi to come speak with him.

"What are we going to do with this man, Stoick?" the woman questioned, crossing her arms as she glanced back at North.

"I have to admit, spirits and gods are not my forte, Bertha," Stoick admitted before turning his attention to Gothi, "What do you think, Elder?"

"He speaks with a certain authority," Gothi admitted, turning her gaze towards North and gave him an appraising look, "And he has a feel of the spirit world around him. A stronger one than I've ever come across."

"What do you mean by a 'feel'?" Spitelout questioned with another raised eyebrow.

"It is hard to explain," Gothi said as she waved her hand through the air, "The best way I can explain it is that if you know what to look for, you can tell who has a touch of the spirits in them and who does not."

"So, you think this man was sent by Loki?" Stoick questioned.

"I do," Gothi replied with a nod.

"Do you think this has to do with the spirits and shadows Hiccup's been talking about since he woke?" Bertha questioned.

"It would seem so," Stoick answered as Gothi nodded.

"Even if all this talk of gods and spirits is real," Spitelout stated, a doubtful look on his face, "Are we going to trust the word of Loki, the God of Lies?"

"Loki is something much greater than a simple liar," Gothi argued, glaring up at Spitelout, "You would do well to remember that, Spitelout Jorgeson."

"Liar or not, Loki is very much real," Stoick stated, trying to diffuse the rising tension, "He has marked my son for some reason, and if this man's arrival is part of that purpose, then I want to see where it leads."

"So, we're going to let him stay here?" Bertha questioned.

"Yes," Stoick confirmed, "I'd rather keep him close so that I can better keep an eye on him. I might believe this North character, but that doesn't mean I trust him."

The other's agreed with nods prompting Stoick to turn his attention back towards North.

"North," Stoick spoke up, grabbing the other man's attention, "The hour grows late and it seems as though you will be staying with us for a time. I hope one of our guest houses will suffice for your stay."

"_Da_," North agreed with a smile and a nod, "I am sure zat it veell suit me well."

"If you'd like, I can show you to them now," Stoick offered, before he paused as Hiccup stepped forward.

"Actually Dad, me and Merida would like to bring him over," Hiccup said, looking slightly nervous as he spoke, "If you don't mind."

"Go right ahead, son," Stoick stated after a moment with a smirk and a nod, "I'll see you and Merida back at the house."

"Thanks, Dad," Hiccup replied with a small smile of his own, before turning his attention back to North and Merida, the later of who was already throwing on her cloak.

"Here," Merida said as she handed Hiccup his cloak, "Daenae want this Jack fellow tae freeze ye solid afore ye've had a chance tae introduce yerself."

"No need to be worrying about zat," North said with a laugh before pausing, "He only deed zat once."

Hiccup and Merida shared a worried look as North turned away from the two of them and began making his way toward the door, signaling Donner to follow him as he did. The deer trotted over to North as Hiccup and Merida followed suit, Toothless falling in step with them. As they reached the door, North pushed it open, pausing as a blast of cold wind struck him in the face before he gestured to the others to step outside, Hiccup grabbing a torch from a nearby scone on the wall before exiting the Hall.

As the small group made their way towards the edge of the village where one of the small guest houses was located, Hiccup glanced at North, wanting to ask something but unable to find the right way to.

"I see you are vanting to ask me a question, Hiccup Dragonrider," North observed, a knowing smile on his face as Hiccup whipped his head around to look up at the taller man, "Vhat ees eet you are vanting to know?"

"I guess the one question I wanted to ask you is where are you from?" Hiccup asked as they trudged through the snow, "I've never heard someone speak with an accent like yours before."

"Understandable," North said with another laugh, "My people do not enjoy traveling from zeir home. I am a Rus of ze Frozen Steppes far to ze east of ze Norselands."

"Ah've heard o' th' Rus afore," Merida observed, giving North a quizzical look, "Ye daenae exactly act like Ah imagined a Rus wud act like."

"I suspect not," North replied with an even louder laugh that the howling wind carried over the village, "I am not being as grim and dower as people like to zeenk ze Rus are, zough I weell admit zat some of my countrymen fit zat description perfectly."

"Why did you leave the Frozen Steppes?" Hiccup questioned as they approached the guest house.

"Trust me, if you ever go to ze Steppes, you veell vant to be leaving too," North said in a way that sounded like he wasn't joking at all.

"Seriously though, why did you leave?" Hiccup pressed as he opened the door and moving out of the way to allow North, Toothless and Merida to enter. He paused for a moment to allow Donner inside as well, but the reindeer merely snorted at him before wandering off around the house, apparently oblivious to the cold. Hiccup quirked an eyebrow as he watched Donner leave before shrugging and entering the house, closing the door behind him.

"I followed my calling," North replied to Hiccup's question with a shrug as he took off his hat and set in on a nearby table. Hiccup walked over to the fireplace, grabbed a log that was sitting nearby in before throwing the torch in as well to light them. The lower level of the house was sparsely furnished, with only a single chair near the fireplace along with another by kitchen table. A set of stair sat near the back of the room, leading to the second floor.

"Yer calling?" Merida pressed as she pulled her hood back and took off her hat, shaking her curly red hair out. As Merida shook her head, Varis let out a caw and flew over to the mantle of the fireplace, ruffling his feathers as he settled onto his new perch.

"I have alvays had a certain…sense for zings," North answered, turning to study Merida as he undid his swordbelt, stepping out of the way of Toothless as the dragon sniffed around the room.

"Whit sort o' sense?" Merida asked further.

"I zeenk you know vhat sense I am talking about," North answered with a chuckle as he set the swordbelt to the side as well.

"Whit dae ye mean by 'at?" Merida questioned, looking up at North in confusion.

"Maybe you are not knowing as much as I zought," North observed as he began to pull his coat off, revealing the simple white shirt he wore underneath, "Tell me, _Printessa_, have you ever felt somezing. Somezing you could not explain, but it told you somezing you could not have known othervise?"

Merida looked up at him for a few quite moments with a surprised and pensive look on her face before she slowly nodded.

"You are feeling it right now, are you not?" North questioned, grinning as he leaned in closer to Merida. Merida nodded again as Varis let out a caw from his perch.

"Vhat do you feel?" North asked, standing back up as he began to shrug his coat off.

"Ah feel…saemethin' in ye," Merida replied, struggling to find the words to describe what she was feeling, "Saemethin' wondrous…"

North took his jacket off as Merida continued talking, revealing numerous black tattoos covering both his arms.

"..And dangerous," Merida finish, looking at North's tattoos with wide eyes as the Rus chuckled, throwing his coat onto a nearby chair.

"Whoa," Hiccup said in amazement as he looked at North's tattoos as well. North looked at Hiccup in confusion for a moment before he realized what the young man was looking at and chuckled again.

"I am always forgetting how uncommon zeengs such as zis are outside ze Steppes," North commented as he looked at the tattoos as well.

"Can we see them?" Merida questioned as she took a hesitant step towards North.

"_Da,_ of course," North answered as he stepped closer to the fire where there was more light and held his arms out for them to see.

Walking up, Merida and Hiccup looked closely at the tattoos that covered North's arms. The entirety of his skin was covered in ink, though the tattoos were segmented into small squares surrounding a single rectangle on each forearm. Each of the smaller squares contained various pictures, depicting things from swords, to snowflakes, to horses, to ships, to compasses pointing north. Each of the rectangles contained a single word, though they were written with symbols that neither Hiccup nor Merida could read.

"What do these say?" Hiccup asked, indicating toward the words, "I've never seen writing like this before."

"Eet ees ze writing of my people," North explained before holding up his right arm, "Zis one says "_neposlushnyy_" or "naughty" to you. Ze other ees_ "khoroshiy"_ or "nice"."

"Why dae ye hae th' words naughty an' nice marked on yer arms?" Merida questioned, quirking an eyebrow at North.

"To remind me vhich sword goes in vhich hand, of course!" North replied with a laugh.

"Come again?" Hiccup questioned in confusion.

"Here, let me be showing you," North stated as he walked over to where his sword belt lay and picked it up. He quickly drew the two swords, holding one in each hand before walking back to Hiccup and Merida. Hiccup quickly noticed the two swords were sabers, both slightly longer than his own. One sword was made of finely polished metal, its keen edge gleaming in the fire. The sword was so polished it had a mirror finish, just like Bemuhen's, catching Hiccup's attention immediately. The other sword was much uglier in comparison. The blade was made out of dull grey metal, and here and there Hiccup could see dots of rust and what could only be dried blood. Instead of a single keen edge, the blade was serrated, making it look like North was holding some sort of metal jawbone than a true sword.

"Zis ees Naughty," North explained, holding the serrated blade up for Hiccup and Merida to see before holding up the other one, "And zis ees Nice."

"Wow," Merida stated as she looked at the swords, "These look like they've seen some use."

"More zan you know," North replied ominously.

"Okay, seriously now, what the Hel are you?" Hiccup snapped, his frustration evident as he looked up at North.

"Vhat do you mean?" North questioned in confusion.

"You show up out of nowhere, saying you flew in on a reindeer of all things, saying you're looking for a spirit because another spirit told you too, you apparently have some weird spirit sense that you share with my girlfriend, and now you have a sword that's made out of the same weird metal as mine!" Hiccup ranted, as he pointed a finger at North, "So, I ask again, what the Hel are you!?"

"You have sword like mine?" North questioned innocently.

"Don't change the subject!" Hiccup shouted in aggravation.

"Sorry," North apologized, holding his hands up in an effort to calm Hiccup down, "Eet ees hard to explain, but I veell do my best."

Placing his swords back on the table, North turned to address Hiccup and Merida and took a deep breath.

"I am being vhat you might call a magi," North stated.

"A magi?" Hiccup questioned in confusion, "What's a magi?"

"A wise man," Merida provided, "Like a shaman or a druid or a prophet."

"Or a witch," Hiccup picked up.

"_Da_," North agreed with a nod of his head.

"So, what does that mean?" Hiccup pressed.

"It means he can speak with spirits, like he said," Merida answered.

"Eet ees being a leettle more zan zat," North interjected, "Not only do I hear ze spirits, but I listen to vhat zey say. You are knowing zat ze great spirits can have only little effect on ze vorld, _da_?"

Hiccup and Merida nodded in unison.

"Vell, because of zat, they are needing to vork through mortals," North explained, "Mortals like me."

"That's why you've been traveling with Jack Frost," Hiccup surmised, a look of understanding on his face, "That's why Loki sent you here."

North nodded his head in affirmation.

"Are there many magi?" Merida questioned.

"_Net_, I am not believing so," North answered, shaking his head, "It is rare gift and rarer steell to have someone to train you. I have only ever known a few people like me, one being ze man who taught me, a man by the name of Ombric Shalazar."

"Where is he?" Hiccup asked.

"He is dead," North answered simply.

"Oh...I-I'm sorry," Hiccup apologized softly.

"It is alright," North replied with a shrug, "It vas long time ago."

"So, if you're working with Loki, that means you're working against the shadow that he mentioned, right?" Hiccup questioned.

"_Da_," North affirmed with a grim nod.

"Can you tell me about him?" Hiccup asked, "Not even Gothi seemed to know a lot about him. She's only heard old legend of a great darkness that covered the world in the time before time."

"Eet ees long story," North warned, "And eet ees not a happy one."

"If we're supposed tae dae saemethin' aboot this guy, we hae tae know aboot him," Merida insisted.

"Very well," North said with a sigh as he settled into a wooden chair near the fire, the furniture piece creaking under his bulk, "I suggest you get settled zen."

Hiccup and Merida glanced at one another before they took off their coats, gloves and cloaks before setting them aside. They sat down next to each other on the floor before North, leaning against Toothless as he curled behind them. For a few moments, North said nothing as he stared into fire, his hands clasped and resting on his stomach. Varis shifted on his perch above the fireplace and cawed, snapping North back to reality.

"Have you ever heard of ze Boogeyman?" North questioned, his voice low.

"Yes," Hiccup and Merida said together before looking at each other in surprise, causing North to chuckle.

"Tell me vhat you know about ze Boogeyman," North prompted.

"He's a story," Merida said hesitantly, glancing at Hiccup uncertainly, "Told tae scare little kids."

"If you stay up too late," Hiccup continued, a confused look on his face, "Or if you disobey your parents…"

"He'll come an' take ye," Merida finished, an equally puzzled look on her face.

"Did you ever believe eet?" North pressed.

"When Ah was a wee lass, Ah was scared he was hidin' under ma bed," Merida stated, a pensive look on her face, "Ah thought 'at if Ah ever got oot o' bed in th' middle o' th' night he'd grab ma legs an' pull me into the shadows."

"When I was a kid, I thought he lived in the woods behind my house," Hiccup said after Merida was done, "Sometimes I thought I could see him moving amongst the trees and I swear I could hear him scratching at the walls of my room at night."

Hiccup and Merida looked at each other again as they pondered each other's stories.

"I am seeing eet working in your minds," North commented, leaning forward in his chair, "How ees eet zat, despite being raised in two different cultures, you vere taught such a markedly similar story? And I promise you zat eet ees not just ze Norselands and ze Highlands zat share zis tale. Go to Corona, Arendelle, Duloc, ze Steppes, ze Moorishlands, ze Southern Isles, and anywhere beyond or in between, ze tale vill be ze same."

"Sae, this shadow we've been warned aboot…it's the Boogeyman?" Merida questioned as she raised her eyebrow.

"Zat and so much more," North answered as he leaned back into his chair, "He ees ze dark and fear zat lurks in ze hearts of all men and women. He ees ze nightmare zat haunts our dreams and the anxiety zat weighs down our days. He is ze reason children are taught to fear ze night."

"Why?" Hiccup questioned as the flames in the fireplace cast dancing shadows on the walls. North paused as he looked Hiccup dead in the eye, his blue eyes having lost their previous twinkle.

"Because ze night ees dark and full of terrors."

A/N: So, lots of exposition in this one, tried to spice it up, hope you guys enjoyed it all the same because I really enjoy world building. Also, North is a lot of fun to write. As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	3. Shadow Play

**Chapter 3: Shadow Play**

"Are you knowing vat ze vorld vas like in ze time before time, Hiccup Dragonrider?" North questioned, the fire painting shadows across half his face.

"I can't say that I do," Hiccup replied, "I get the feeling you're going to tell me though."

"Smart boy," North observed with a grin, "In ze time before time, ven ze vorld vas still young, it vas being a much wilder place."

"Whit dae ye mean by "wilder"?" Merida questioned.

"In zat ancient time, spirits great and small vandered ze vorld," North explained, "Men had not built zeir great cities, ogres, elves and trolls lived in vast numbers and giants still walked ze earth. Zis vas ze vorld zat ze great spirits ruled."

"How many great spirits are there?" Hiccup asked.

"Ten at ze time," North answered, "Eleven now, counting Jack. Vater and stone vere ze first, ancient and unknowable, zey have never been ones to take part in ze varring of ze ozer spirits."

"They daenae care?" Merida asked in surprise, "How can they nae care?"

"Does ze ocean rejoice vhen ze sun rises?" North questioned rhetorically, "Does ze mountain despair ven ze night falls? Ze seas and ze earth know both ze sun and ze shadow and care little for ze difference."

Merida frowned at that and crossed her arms but said nothing in argument.

"Who are the others?" Hiccup pressed.

"Ze remaining eight are ones you are being more familiar vith," North answered as he turned his gaze towards the fire again, "You have already met ze spirit of fire."

"Loki," Hiccup agreed with a nod, "Though he goes by other names as well."

"As do zey all," North stated, "In truth, ze spirits did not name zemselves, zey care little for such distinctions. Zey have merely adopted ze monikers zat ve have given zem."

"He also told me about Thor," Hiccup said, "I'm guessing he's the spirit of lightning."

"_Da_," North agreed with a nod, "He is being ze spirit of courage and ze storm."

"Soliel is ane too, Ah imagine," Merida added.

"_Da,_" North said again with another nod, "Ze spirit of light and wisdom."

"That's three," Hiccup commented, "Who are the others?"

"Ze four others are all being allies of ze spirit of light along vith ze spirits of fire and thunder," North explained, "First and foremost is ze spirit of ze moon and love."

"Lady Lune," Merida commented with surprise, "Ah didnae realize she was a separate spirit. Is she really Soliel's wife?"

"Vife is being vrong vord," North replied with a chuckle and a wave of his hand.

"Spirits don't care much for marriage, I imagine," Hiccup observed with a chuckle.

"Zis is being true," North agreed with another chuckle, "But I vas talking about ze other part of being a wife."

"Other part?" Merida questioned in confusion, arching an eyebrow.

"Spirits are caring as little for sex and gender as zey are for names," North answered, "I've been to places vhere ze moon is ze man and ze sun is ze voman."

North smiled broadly as he leaned in closer.

"I have even been places vhere both are men or both are vomen," North explained, "Ze relationship does not change."

North chuckled as he leaned back while Hiccup and Merida looked back at him, eyes wide with understanding.

"Um, who are the other spirits?" Hiccup questioned awkwardly.

"The three other spirits are those of dreams, life…and death," North said ominously.

"Death?" Merida questioned in surprise, "Sounds like someane who wud be on th' shadow's side."

"Being spoken like someone who is knowing so little of ze vorld," North replied with a smirk, as Merida frowned at him, "You are seeing death as an end, vhen really it is a part of an ever spinning cycle of life, death and rebirth."

"But death is an end," Hiccup observed, a pensive look on his face, "For that person at least."

"_Da_," North agreed with a nod of his head, "Ze individual can be lost in ze great cycle of life, which is vhy ze spirit of death is also ze spirit of memory. She and her agents vatch over us from ze moment of our births, recording everyzing ve do vith our lives so zat ve vill be remembered on our deaths. And vhen zat time comes, it is she who spirits us to our final rest."

"She?" Merida asked in surprise.

"Ze spirit of death seems to be preferring ze form of a woman, though zere are being plenty of places zat know her as a man," North mused, stroking his beard thoughtfully, "Not here though, if I am remembering correct."

"Yes," Hiccup replied, "The goddess Hel. She's not looked favorably on here."

"Sae, all th' various gods an' goddesses o' death are her?" Merida questioned.

"Among others," North answered with a shrug.

"Like whot?" Merida asked.

"Have you ever been hearing of ze Tooth Fairy?" North questioned as he leaned in closer, grinning at Merida as he did.

"…Ye must be jokin'," Merida replied flatly as Hiccup crooked an eyebrow in confusion.

"I no joke," North replied with a chuckle as he sat back in his seat again.

"Whit daes collectin' teeth hae tae dae with death?" Merida questioned.

"Vhat does it not?" North retorted, "Losing your teeth is a sign of growing older. Vether it means changing from child to adult or turning from adult to…"

"Ah get th' idea," Merida answered, rubbing her arm.

"Okay, what the Hel is a Tooth Fairy?" Hiccup asked in confusion.

"It's a story 'at parents tell their children aboot whit happens tae yer baby teeth after they fall oot," Merida explained, "They say 'at if ye put them under yer pillow at night, th' Tooth Fairy will come an' take it an' leave ye a coin."

"…What does she do with the teeth?" Hiccup questioned after a moment.

"'At part tended tae be left oot," Merida observed before turning her attention to North, "Whit daes th' spirit o' death an' memory dae with baby teeth?"

"Your teeth are containing a record of your memory," North explained, "By collecting zem, she can keep a better record of our lives."

"This is crazy," Hiccup said with a shake of his head, "What about the other ones you mentioned? The spirits of life and dreams."

"_Da,_ one is ze spirit of life," North explained, "He works in tandem vith ze spirit of death. He represents all things about life, from plants to animals to people. He also represents vhat life means to people."

"What is that?" Hiccup asked.

"Hope," North answered with a smile, "Life represents hope for the future, vether it being ze return of spring or ze birth of a baby."

"An' whit o' th' spirit o' dreams?" Merida asked.

"One of ze oldest and most mysterious," North explained, "He has been around since man first looked up at ze stars and vondered vat zey vere. He is imagination incarnate and ze one who has ze easiest time reaching zrough ze spirit world."

"You're talking about the Great Collective Unconscious, right?" Hiccup questioned, "Loki told me about that."

"Some call it zat," North agreed with a nod, "Others ze Astral Plane, while others still call it ze Dreamlands or ze Dreaming."

"Sae, those are th' spirits 'at are on our side," Merida observed.

"And then there's the Boogeyman," Hiccup stated grimly, "Does he have other names?"

"I have heard a few," North answered with a slow nod, "Set. Chernobog. Pitch Black."

"Pitch Black?" Merida questioned.

"Comes from old story," North explained solemnly, "Man and voman live in cottage deep in woods with zeir child. One night, child begins screaming. Father comes and ask vhat is wrong. Child points out vindow and says "Pitch Black! Pitch Black!" Father zinks child is scared of dark, laughs and tells child to go to bed. Next day, father comes in to room and find child gone, window broken and note left behind. Note reads "Do not fear ze dark, fear vhat it hides. Sincerely, Pitch Black.""

Merida and Hiccup sat in silence as they thought over the story that North had just told them.

"Why did he take th' child?" Merida questioned quietly.

"To corrupt him," North explained darkly, "To change him."

"Intae whit?" Merida questioned, dreading the answer.

"A boggart," North answered grimly, "A creature of fear and shadow just like him."

"He can do that?" Hiccup asked, aghast.

"Zat and so much more," North elaborated as he turned to look into the flames again, the flickering light casting dancing shadows on the walls, "Boggarts are vhat he creates when he is having time to mold his creation. He also is having quicker forms of corruption, creating all sorts of horrors. From humans, he creates living shadows known as shades. From wolves, terrible hounds known as barghests and from birds, his dreaded valravns. From elves he makes gremlins, and from trolls he makes goblins. Even ogres become someting vorse under his touch, flesh-eating monsters known as stallos. Ze vorst though are ze few boggarts zat reach adulthood, trained in ze arts of war and terror. Zey are known as his blackguards, mockeries of knighthood astride corrupted horses known as nightmares."

"Gods," Hiccup whispered as Merida covered her mouth in shock, "He can do all that?"

"That, and more," North repeated grimly, "He is being one of ze most powerful of ze spirits and by far ze most dangerous."

"Whit happened, North?" Merida questioned, "Whit happened in th' time afore time? Whit caused all th' spirits tae leave th' world?"

"Back zen, there were being only eight great spirits," North explained, "Ze spirits of fire and lightning had not yet come into being and dragons had not yet been born into ze vorld. Still, the vorld held things that you and I have never seen. Spirits great and small. Elves, trolls and ogres in vast numbers. Giants, now long dead, still vandered ze land, shaking ze earth vith their very footsteps."

As North talked, Merida glanced at a nearby wall and could have sworn the shadows cast upon the wall were moving and changing along with North's story, depicting massive, humanoid creatures lumbering across the countryside.

"It vas in zis vorld zat ze great spirits freely interacted vih all forms of life," North went on, "Ze spirits of ze sun and moon sought to promote harmony amongst ze races and spread enlightenment across the world. Ze spirit of shadow, however, vanted somezing entirely different."

As the story continued, the shadows on the wall shifted to the image of a tall, gaunt man looming over a group of people.

"Ze spirit of shadow vas being one of ze oldest spirits," North explained, "He had hung over the rock and wave long before ze first star twinkled in ze night sky. Now, ze burning sun drove him into hiding for half ze day, every day, while ze moon and ze stars kept him at bay at night. He craved nothing more zan ze return of his reign of darkness, ven vat few creatures valked ze earth and swam ze seas truly knew fear."

The shadows switched to the image of the shadow man making threating motions towards the people, who cowered before him.

"So, for years upon years, he vorked," North explained, "Stealing children from zeir cribs to turn into his boggarts. Capturing and corrupting anyzing he found vandering alone in ze dark places of ze world. Eventually, he had an army of tens of thousands. He unleashed it upon ze vorld in a surge of fear and shadow. Even daylight vas not enough to keep ze people of ze vorld safe from ze army of living shadows. His attack was so swift and so powerful that even ze ozer great spirits vere caught off guard and much of ze vorld quickly fell to shadow."

The shadows of people suddenly shifted to those of grotesque monsters, with the shadow man ordering forward. The image shifted to the shadow creatures attacking other people, who all ran away in fear.

"Ze five great spirits moved against him, but ze shadow's power vas too great," North went on, "Ze spirits of life, death and dreams quickly fell first. Ze spirit of ze sun did great battle vith ze shadow, but ultimately even he fell and ze world became endless night, with only ze moon and ze stars to vatch over ze vorld. Men, elves, ogres, trolls and giants alike cowered in fear of ze shadows wrath and all seemed lost."

The shadows showed the man growing larger and large snarling down at the tiny people below him.

"But ze shadow's victory vas not complete," North explained, "For ze spirit of ze moon continued to elude him. Ze spirit had found a corner of ze world that even ze shadow did not know and zere she kept ze two zings zat could defeat him hidden away."

"What were they?" Hiccup questioned, oblivious to the shadows on the wall changing to the image of a cowering woman clutching something to her chest.

"Her sons," North explained, as the shadow of the woman revealed she was holding two babies in her arms, "Ze spirits of fire and lightning, ze children she had had vith ze spirit of ze sun. She raised zem in secret, spending zose years of ze long night teaching zem to use their powers and trying to figure out a way to defeat ze shadow. Ultimately, it vas being ze spirit of fire who realized vat zey had to do."

"They had to seal the shadow away from the world," Hiccup supplied as the shadows on the wall changed to the image of two men standing next to one another, one tall and slim, the other broad and muscular.

"_Da_," North agreed with a nod, "But in order to be doing zat, zey had to be confronting ze shadow and his minions face to face. So, ze spirits of fire and lightning began secretly making zeir way around ze world, recruiting ze people for an army ze likes of which ze vorld had never been seeing before. Ze spirit of lightning taught zem vhat it vas to be having courage in ze face of danger. He taught zem how to be brave and how to fight."

The shadows shifted to the muscular man standing in front of a group of smaller people, running through fighting drills with them.

"Ze spirit of fire, on ze other hand, gave zem ze power of knowledge," North went on, "He taught zem how to create and harness fire. He showed zem how forge and craft veapons and armor. After years of vork, ze spirits finally created an army of men, elves, trolls, ogres and giants armed with the bronze veapons and armor of old."

The shadows shifted to the image of an army of all shapes and sizes, dressed in ancient looking armor and armed with spears, shields and swords.

"Even zat, ze spirits feared, vould not be enough," North continued, "So, ze spirit of fire decided zey needed a new veapon to be bringing to ze field. So, he created the living embodiment of fire."

"Dragons," Hiccup muttered, still failing to notice the shifting shadows on the wall behind him. As Merida looked on, the shadows shifted to the form of a massive dragon, a silhouette that she was all too familiar with, bulky in body and legs with a large, square-shaped head, clubbed tail and huge wings.

"_Da_," North confirmed with a nod, "Two at first, dozens afterwards. Powerful beasts to bolster zeir army against ze forces of ze shadow."

"Two?" Hiccup questioned in confusion, "What two dragons did Loki make first?"

"You are already being familiar vith one of them," North explained before turning his gaze towards Merida, who was still looking at the shadows on the wall, "In fact, one of you killed it."

"Th' Red Death," Merida muttered, her attention still focused upon the shadows on the wall.

"_Da,_" North stated with a nod, narrowing his eyes as he looked over at Merida, "Ze Red Death and its twin."

"The Red Death has a twin!?" Hiccup questioned in shock as Toothless perked up, his eyes wide.

"_Da_," North repeated with a nod, his attention still focused on Merida, "Ze spirit of fire vas seeing fit to create two opposites, just like him and his brother. So, he created a great dragon of fire and a great dragon of cold."

"Cold?" Hiccup questioned in confusion, "How could Loki make a dragon of cold?"

"Vhat is cold, but ze absence of heat?" North asked rhetorically, glancing over at Hiccup and shrugging. As Hiccup and North talked, the shadows shifted again, with a second, equally large dragon appearing next to the Red Death's silhouette. This one, while as large and bulky as the Red Death, though instead of wings, this dragon had long fins coming from its back, as well as a forest of quill like spikes. Two massive tusks extended from the dragon's mouth, hanging down to just above its feet.

"What was it called?" Hiccup questioned.

"Some took to calling it ze Bewilderbeast," North explained, "Others are referring to it as ze White Death."

"I'm sensing a pattern here," Hiccup observed, dryly.

"As you should," North stated, "Either vay, together, ze two dragons had ze power to control any other dragon. Vith zem, ze spirits led their armies against ze forces of ze shadow."

"What happened?" Hiccup questioned.

"Ze greatest battle ze vorld has ever been knowing," North answered simple, "Ze two armies clashed while ze spirits engaged ze shadow in ze skies above zem."

The shadows on the wall changed to show the two men battling the shadow, silhouettes of flames and lightning bolts striking the shadow as it clawed at the two men.

"While ze spirits of fire and lightning distracted ze shadow vith their battle above and below, ze spirit of ze moon wove a spell of her own," North went on, "Vhen ze shadow defeated ze other spirits, he absorbed zem into his own dark form. Using her magic, the spirit of ze moon was able to be taking ze shadow unawares, reaching into him and pulling ze spirits out of his black form."

The shadows on the wall showed a woman appearing behind the shadow and driving her hands into its back. As the shadow writhed in pain, the woman began pulling on something before she managed to pull a man out of the shadow's back.

"Vith ze other spirits free and ze shadow weakened, zey vere able to be putting zeir plan into action," North continued, "Ze spirits knew zat the shadow vas too powerful to truly defeat. Zey had to seal him away from ze material world, but in order to do zat, zey all had to leave vith him. As ze shadow tried to recover, ze spirits used zeir power to open a portal to ze spirit world, which sucked zem all in and closed, leaving zem no way to return."

The shadows showed the shadow being surrounded by others before a swirl appeared below them and appeared to suck them in, the shadows shaking his hands in the air in anger as he was sucked in as well.

"What happened to the shadow's army?" Hiccup questioned.

"It dissipated as the shadow left ze world," North explained, "Ze various members of ze spirits' army went zeir separate ways, forming ze peoples ve know today and all of zis faded from memory, becoming myth and legend."

"If he's being sealed away, how is he coming back?" Hiccup asked.

"Though ze shadow is much veaker zan he once vas, he has vays of gazering his strength in ze material world," North answered, "Every five hundred years, zere is a meeting of ze sun and moon zat casts ze vorld in darkness, even during ze middle of the day."

"A meeting of the sun and moon?" Hiccup questioned in confusion before a thought occurred to him, "You're talking about an eclipse aren't you?"

As Hiccup talked, the shadows turned to the image of the sun and moon hanging over the Earth, drawing closer and closer together.

"_Da,_" North agreed with a nod, "But not like ze ones you might be knowing. Zis is a special time, for vhen ze spirits all entered ze spirit world, zey vere separated from one anozer in such a vay zat it became almost impossible for zem to interact. Zis eclipse is ze only time zat ze spirits of ze sun and moon can be vith one another anymore."

"That's…that's terrible," Hiccup whispered sorrowfully as he reached out and rested his hand on top of Merida's. Merida, for her part, was watching the shadows as the image of the sun and moon transformed into a man and a woman reaching out towards one another.

"Vhat is vorse is vhat is coming vith it," North went on, "For as ze sun and moon come closer togezer, zey turn zeir attention away from ze material vorld, casting it in shadow. It is at zis time zat ze shadow is at his strongest and can break back out of ze spirit vorld into ze material one."

As North talked, the shadows shifted again, showing the shadow spirit laughing as he grew larger and larger on the wall.

"This has happened before, hasn't it?" Hiccup questioned.

"Three times," North answered, holding up three fingers for emphasis, "It is being two millennia since ze spirits left zis vorld, and each time ze shadow has tried to return, he has been beaten back by ze great heroes of the time, though always at great cost."

"So, let me guess, it's that time of the millennium again?" Hiccup questioned sarcastically.

"_Da_," North confirmed with a grim nod.

"Fantastic," Hiccup stated with a weary sigh, "What I wouldn't give to have been born a century or two ago."

"Vat vouldn't ve all give?" North questioned with a laugh, "But ze truth is zat ve live in zis time and face ze shadow rising once more."

As Hiccup and North talked, Merida watched as the shadow grew larger and larger on the wall until it seemed to be looming over her.

"Ve must be gazering our strength against ze coming darkness," North explained, apparently oblivious to the darkening shadows, "I see now zat zat is ze other reason I have been sent here, to prepare ze two of you for ze trials ahead."

The shadow continued growing larger and seemed to be drawing closer to Merida, reaching a hand out towards Merida. Toothless seemed to notice this, perking his head up as he watched the shadow with Merida.

"And you must be prepared," North warned ominously, "For ze darkness gathers, and shadows hide in every corner."

The shadow drew closer and closer to Merida, reaching out its hand to grab her and swallow her whole, but the princess found herself unable to move, rooted to the floor by an all-encompassing dread. As the shadow approached, Toothless lowered his ears and narrowed his eyes, growling as he bared his teeth. Varis, for his part, began cawing loudly at the shadow as he flapped his wings violently.

"What's going on?" Hiccup asked, looking at Varis in confusion before turning his attention to Toothless, "What's wrong, bud?"

As the shadow drew nearer, Merida began to shake with fear, her pale flesh going milk white as her eyes went wide.

"Mer?" Hiccup questioned, placing his hand on Merida's shoulder as he noticed how violently she was shaking, apparently unable to see the shadow looming over both of them, "Merida, what's wrong?"

Meridaa watched in terror as the shadow's hand drew closer, inches away from touching her. Suddenly, Merida felt iron-hard fingers grasp hold of her arm before yanking her to face away from the shadow. Spinning around, Merida found herself looking at North, her blue eyes meeting his.

"I vould not stare so long into ze shadows, _Printessa,_" North said, any sound of mirth lost from his voice, "You are never knowing who is looking back."

"Mer, are you okay?" Hiccup asked, concern written on his face.

"Ah-Ah'm alright, Hic," Merida replied uneasily, rubbing her eyes with her hands, glancing to where the shadow had been and finding it gone, "Ah'm alright."

"Vat vere you seeing?" North questioned.

"Th' shadows…they started formin' pictures tae gae along with yer story," Merida explained as she wrapped her arms around herself while Hiccup put an arm around her shoulders, "Then they formed a man an' he started reachin' fer me. Ah felt scared, more scared then Ah've ever felt afore. Ah cudnae move, Ah cudnae breathe, Ah just…"

Merida trailed off, tightening her grip on herself as Hiccup pulled her closer.

"I thought spirits couldn't affect the world like that," Hiccup mused as he looked to North for answers.

"Zere is much you still have to learn about spirits, Hiccup Dragonrider," North replied ominously, "Even zen, ze hour grows late, and e shadows grow long."

"There's no getting out of this, is there?" Hiccup questioned, looking at North with sad eyes, "We're in this, whether we want to be or not."

"_Da,_" North answered sadly, before a look of determination crossed his face, "Zat is vhy I must be preparing you for trials ahead. Ve start first zing in morning. I will be teaching you vhat I know, and, not to be bragging, but I am knowing a lot."

Hiccup and Merida smiled as they rose to their feet, Toothless following suit with a grunt.

"You two should be getting home," North stated as he planted his hands on his hips, "I don't vant your father to be vondering vhere you are."

North leaned closer to the two teenagers, a grin on his face.

"I am finding him to be very scary man," North whispered conspiratorially, causing Hiccup and Merida to chuckle.

"Have a good night, North," Hiccup said as he and Merida made their way towards the door.

"Thanks fer everythin'," Merida added as the two donned their coats and cloaks.

"Do not be zanking me yet," North said with a chuckle as the two opened the door and ushered Toothless out into the cold, Varis flying from his perch and landing on Merida's shoulder, "Ve are having much vork to do! Ve rise viz ze sun!"

"See you then!" Hiccup called as he and Merida went trudging off into the snow, North giving a smile and a wave as he closed the door behind them.

Sighing, North turned away from the door. Glancing around, he saw that the room had seemingly grown darker than it had been a moment before. The fire burnt low in the fireplace and long shadows obscured most of the room. Suddenly, the creaking of floorboards brought North's attention to a corner of the room, where he could make out what looked like the hazy image of someone standing in the shadows. For a few tense moments, North stared into the shadows at the figure before smirking.

"Vill be taking more zan bumps in night to scare me," North declared before walking towards the stairs, "Much more."

_Later,_

Hiccup was preparing for bed, having hung up his winter clothes, kicked off his boot and removed his artificial leg. Before he could snuff out his bedside candle though, a soft knock came from his door a moment before Merida opened it and stuck her head through, a slightly embarrassed look on her face.

"Hey, Mer," Hiccup said, a look of concern on his face, "Everything alright?"

"Aye, sorry tae bother ye it's jist…" Merida trailed off and bit her lip nervously before continuing, "Wud it be alright if…if Ah stayed with ye tonight?"

"This is about what you saw in the shadows, isn't it?" Hiccup questioned plainly.

Merida nodded her head, averting her eyes in embarrassment

. "I understand if you're scared…" Hiccup began to say.

"Ah ain't scared!" Merida snapped, glaring at Hiccup.

"I'm scared too," Hiccup finished, an understanding look on his face, "And I would appreciate the company."

Merida gave Hiccup an apologetic look before entering his room and quietly closing the door behind her. Quickly stripping off her leggings, Merida crawled into bed with Hiccup in her tunic and undergarments, quickly snuggling in next to him.

"Do you want me to leave the candle lit?" Hiccup asked.

"Nae," Merida answered as she reached up and extinguished the candle herself, "Ah've got ye. 'At's all Ah need."

A/N: This chapter took a little longer to write then I was expecting but I think it turned out alright in the end. Lots of world building in this one, hope you guys liked it! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	4. By the Sword

**Chapter 4: By the Sword**

The sun shone brightly over the island of Berk, its rays reflecting off the white snow that covered the ground. North walked through the bustling village, smiling as he looked around at all the decorations that the villagers and their dragons were setting up, oblivious to the odd looks he was getting from the Vikings. All around him, strands of garland decorated with colorful ribbons woven in were being strung between the houses. As North approached the center of the village, he saw that a large pine tree had been brought from the forest and erected in the village. Currently, a number of children and dragons were putting colorful decorations on it.

As North marveled up at the tree, he accidentally walked into someone, the force of the blow knocking him back half a step. As he caught himself, North turned to find he had bumped into Fishlegs, who stood only half a head shorter than the jolly traveler.

"Oh, sorry Mr. uh North," Fishlegs apologized.

"No need to be apologizing, my friend," North replied with a chuckle, "I should be vatching vhere I am valking."

North looked Fishlegs up and down before realization crossed his face and he smiled.

"You are being Hiccup and Merida's friend!" he concluded, pointing a finger at Fishlegs, "Fishfeet, _da_?"

"Fishlegs, sir," Fishlegs corrected.

"_Da, _of course," North agreed with a chuckle, "Hiccup and Merida are telling me much about you."

"They are?" Fishlegs questioned, crooking an eyebrow at North.

"_Da_!" North replied with a jolly laugh as he patted Fishlegs on the arm, "Strong arms, sharp mind and good heart. A very good combination, I am zeenking."

"Uh, thanks," Fishlegs replied bashfully.

"Be zeenking nozing of it," North replied, waving a dismissive hand, "Have you been seeing your friends zees morning?"

"Not yet," Fishlegs answered, shaking his head, "You might want to check the smithy. Hiccup likes to spend a lot of time there."

"I veell be doing zat, zank you," North said, patting Fishlegs on the shoulder before he began to walk away. North walked a few short feet before stopping and turning back to Fishlegs.

"Vhich vay is being to ze smeezy?" North questioned bashfully.

Fishlegs pointed in the correct direction, earning a smile and a laugh from North who quickly set off in the direction Fishlegs had pointed. Fishlegs watched him go before smirking in amusement and shaking his head while heading off in his own direction.

North quickly made his way through the village, eventually finding his way to the smithy where smoke was slowly rising from the roof. As he reached the building, he knocked on the door before poking his head in, finding Hiccup working at the anvil with Merida sitting on a stool nearby with Varis perched on her shoulder. Toothless had curled up near the furnace, the Night Fury lifting his head up to look at North.

"_Dobroe utro_," he greeted happily as he glanced around before fully opening the door and stepping inside, "Is zees being your smeezy?"

"Good morning to you too," Hiccup greeted in bemusement, "And no, I'm just watching it for a friend."

"He's on holiday," Merida added as she turned to look at North as well.

"I see," North replied, looking around the shop before wandering over to a table and picking up Bemuhen from where it sat on the table, "Ahh, so zees is being ze sword you vere talking about."

"Yeah," Hiccup answered as he walked over to North, watching as he examined the blade.

"Vhere is zees coming from?" North questioned as he handed the blade back to Hiccup.

"It's a bit of a long story," Hiccup replied as he took the sword with his left hand, causing North to crook an eyebrow at him, "I guess you could say it's a family heirloom."

"I am seeing," North replied, before glancing back at the sword, "Ze vords, vhat are zey saying?"

"Bemuhen," Hiccup answered as he set the sword back down, "It's Old Norse for Endeavor."

"Good name for sword," North stated with a nod, before turning his attention towards the other object sitting on Hiccup's workbench, picking up Hiccup's crossbow and examining it, "And vhat ees being zees?"

"That's my crossbow," Hiccup answered.

"Crossbow?" North questioned with curiosity, "I am never hearing of zees veapon."

"That's because I invented it," Hiccup stated, smiling as North gave him an impressed look.

"I use to be fancying myself as inventor," North mused as he set the crossbow back down, "Zough not of veapons."

"Whit of?" Merida inquired.

"Toys," North answered with a chuckle and a shrug before sighing "Zat vas being a long time ago."

Looking between Merida and Hiccup, North smiled again.

"So, vho am I to be starting vith today?" North questioned, clapping his hands together and rubbing them together eagerly.

"Hiccup is," Merida stated as she stood up from her seat, "Ah'm gaein' tae gae see if Ah can find any way o' trackin' down yer friend."

"How are you going to be doing zat?" North questioned.

"Ah hae a good idea o' where tae start," Merida replied before kissing Hiccup on the cheek, grabbing her cloak and moving to the door, "Try nae tae kill ane another while Ah'm gone."

"No need to be vorrying, _Printessa_, he ees being in good hands," North stated with a large smile before slapping Hiccup on the back, almost knocking the young man over in the process.

"Ah can see 'at," Merida replied with a chuckle before shaking her head and walking out the door.

"So, what exactly are you planning on teaching me today?" Hiccup questioned, rubbing the spot on his back where North had hit him.

"How to fight, and for zat," North said as he picked Bemuhen back up and handed it to Hiccup, "You are going to be needing zees."

Hiccup took the sword before looking nervously up at North, the large man grinning widely back at him.

A few minutes later, Hiccup, now dressed in his winter clothing with his horned helmet on and a round, wooden shield strapped to his right arm, stood across from North in the small clearing behind the smithy. Toothless sat on the edge of the clearing, sunning himself on a rock.

"First," North said as he unsheathed his mismatched swords and spun them around with a flourish, "Ve are going to be seeing how much you are knowing about fighting."

Sliding into a fighting stance, North grinned at Hiccup.

"Ready for vhen you are being so," North stated.

Gulping, Hiccup reached up and pulled Bemuhen out of the sheath strapped to his back.

"Left handed," North observed, "Interesting."

Hesitantly, Hiccup approached North with his shield raised, causing the larger man to chuckle.

"Zee first move is being yours," North stated as he stood at the ready.

Nodding in reply, Hiccup stepped forward and swung is sword at North. North easily batted the attack away with Nice before swinging Naughty at Hiccup. Hiccup managed to just barely lift his shield up and block the attack, Naughty's metal teeth biting into the wood as the force of the blow spinning Hiccup around and forcing him to stumble away.

"Too slow," North said, dropping his guard and shaking his head as Hiccup caught himself, "You are being much too slow."

Turning to face North, Hiccup rushed forward as best he could on his mismatched legs and thrust his sword at the larger man.

"Good zrust," North observed as he easily sidestepped the attack, "But you have overextended yourself."

Swinging with Naughty, North caught Bemuhen in his swords serrated blade before tugging the sword out of Hiccup's hand, causing it to clatter to the ground. As Hiccup looked at his sword in surprise, North kicked him in the chest, sending the young man stumbling backwards. As he did, North swung at him with Naughty, forcing the off-balance Hiccup to raise his sword to block. Naughty's metal teeth dug into the shield again, biting down on the wood, allowing North to yank Hiccup back towards him while wrenching the young man's shield off his arm. Stepping aside to let Hiccup stumble past him, North hooked Hiccup's foot with his own, sending the Viking tumbling end over end across the ground. As Hiccup rolled to a stop, North shook the young man's shield off his sword, causing it to land on the frozen ground with a thud.

"So, I am seeing you are not knowing much," North observed as he stepped over to where Bemuhen lay on the ground, "I am being surprised you've survived as you have. Did you not kill ze Demon Bear?"

"That had to do with a lot of other things," Hiccup replied as he pushed himself to his feet, huffing and puffing as he glanced to the side, noticing a few villagers had come over to watch, drawn by the sound of the two men's spar, "He had me pretty beat on the sword-fighting thing."

"I am seeing vhy," North stated as he looped his foot under Bemuhen and kicked it into the air at Hiccup, who barely managed to catch it, "Again."

Hiccup eyed North in confusion before walking forward and reaching down for his shield. Before he could grab it though, North swung down and struck the shield with Naughty, forcing Hiccup to yank his hand back. Hiccup stared incredulously up at North, who only looked impassively back at the young man. Hesitantly, Hiccup reached for the shield again, only for North to smack it again, forcing the young man to take a hesitant step back. Growing frustrated, Hiccup quickly reached for the shield again only for North to swing Nice down on it, slicing the mangled shield in two.

"Hey!" Hiccup shouted angrily, "What the Hel!?"

"You veell not be needing shield," North answered calmly, "You are being too small. Must be quick, not tough. Shield slows you down."

Kicking the remains of the shield away, North fell back into a fighting stance.

"Now come," North insisted, "Again!"

Growling to himself, Hiccup rushed forward, swinging his sword wildly, the flurry of blows forcing North back a few steps as he parried the blows.

"Good, good," North encouraged over the clanging of steel on steel, "Using left had gives advantage. Most train veeth right hand. Use to attack from opposite direction. Most men vell be having hard time parrying blows."

"You seem to be having a pretty easy time with it," Hiccup observed as he continued to attack North.

"I am not being most men," North replied with a wry grin as he caught Bemuhen between his swords before shoving the young man back and going on the attack.

Stumbling backward, Hiccup barely managed to get his sword up in time to block North's attack, the Viking teen backpedaling as North continued to rain attacks down on him.

"Attacks are being very sloppy," North observed as he continued to force Hiccup back, "I am seeing zem miles away."

With a swift kick to the midsection, North knocked Hiccup off his feet and back onto the cold, hard ground.

"Your stance is being veak as vell," North added.

"Well, that's probably because I'm missing a leg!" Hiccup shouted in frustration as he pushed himself to his feet again, eyeing the growing crowd of villagers and dragons that was gathering to watch.

"No excuses!" North argued back, "Excuses mean you are not being wrong, but you are. And vhen you are being wrong, you can be being feexed. And vhen you are feexed, you are being better. Understanding?"

Hiccup nodded as he tried to catch his breath.

"Good," North said with a nod of his own before sliding back into his stance, "Again!"

Rushing forward, Hiccup took a few more swings at North, forcing the larger man back a few steps, their blades flashing in the morning sun as they cut through the air. As Hiccup thrust Bemuhen at North again, the Rus pushed the attack to the side, causing the young man to stumble forward. Acting on instinct, Hiccup reached out and grabbed hold of North by the man's coat to stop himself. With lightning reflexes, North used a few of the fingers on his other hand to grab Hiccup's wrist before kicking the young man's legs out from under him and flipping him onto the ground.

Hiccup groaned in pain and lay on his back for a moment before pushing himself back to his feet.

"You know," Hiccup said as he tried to catch his breath, "You might have an advantage with the whole two swords thing."

"I am being sure ve can be finding you anozer sword," North replied with a sly grin, "If you are banting to be stopping, zat is."

"No," Hiccup answered with determination, "Let's keep going."

"Hiccup," Stoick said as he pushed his way through the crowd, "What the Hel's goin' on here?"

"Or not," Hiccup stated before he turned to look at his father, "Nothing, Dad. North just offered to help train me is all."

"Since when have you been interested in sword fightin'?" Stoick questioned.

"Well, I've always been kind of interested in it, I've just never been any good at it," Hiccup answered with a shrug, "I figured with everything that's been happening lately, now might be a good time to start getting good at it."

"As good as that is, I'm not sure how I feel about a stranger swingin' swords at my son," Stoick stated, shooting a pointed gaze at North.

"Trust me, ve are being completely safe," North replied reassuringly.

"Your coat's on fire," Stoick stated matter-of-factly.

Whipping his head around to look at his arm, North saw that the spot on his sleeve where Hiccup had grabbed him had caught fire, a thin trail of smoke rising from the quickly burning cloth. Letting out a shout of surprise, North dropped his swords to the ground before he began batting at the fire with his hand, which only served to catch his other sleeve on fire. North panicked for a moment, waving his flaming arms around before he pulled off his coat and threw it on ground where he proceeded to stomp the flames out with his feet. The crowd watched with wide eyes before slowly everyone turned to look at Hiccup.

Hiccup looked on in shock as well before slowly turning his attention towards his right hand. The intricate burn on his hand was slowly fading from an angry red as steam rose from Hiccup's palm.

"On second thought," North said as he rubbed his singed arms, "Maybe ve are not needing to be finding you second sword."

"Are you alright, son?" Stoick questioned as he walked over to Hiccup's side.

"Yeah, it's fine, it just feels a little hot," Hiccup replied as the glow from the scar began to fade, "I didn't even…"

Hiccup trailed off as he looked up at his father, blinking in confusion as a snowflake passed between them. Stoick noticed it too, looking at the offending snowflake in bewilderment before turning his eyes skyward, where he saw grey clouds quickly covering the sky.

"That's strange," Stoick mused, "The sky was clear just a moment ago."

Suddenly, the sounds of commotion drew their attention to the crowd, who were all looking at something. Hiccup followed their gaze as Toothless left his place on the rock and joined his side, the two of them looking up at the mountain that marked the center of the island, where swirling clouds had covered it almost to its base.

"Hiccup," North said, bringing Hiccup's attention back to him as he regarded the young man with a serious expression, all the mirth gone from his eyes, "I am Zeenking ve should be finding your _printessa _now."

_A short time earlier_,

A small group of teenagers made their way through the snow-covered woods that occupied most of the island. Merida led the group which consisted of Fishlegs, Astrid and Snotlout. With them was a pair of teenagers who appeared to be twins, a girl and a boy. Both had long, light blonde hair and blue eyes, the girl having a pair of short braids on the side of her head. They both wore brown leather boots, black wool breeches, brown fur coats and dark green cloaks along with iron helmets with four horns each.

"Explain to me again why we couldn't just fly here?" Snotlout whined as they followed Merida through the woods.

"Because it's in the middle o' th' wood, Snot," Merida answered as she pushed through some undergrowth, "Ah daenae think our dragons wud appreciate it if we sent them crashin' through th' trees. Besides, it's nae 'at far."

"I'm with Snotlout," the male twin spoke up, "Walking kind of loses its luster when you have awesome dragons you could be riding."

"Well, it would have been easier if you guys didn't insist we bring our weapons along," Fishlegs replied as he adjusted the warhammer that was strapped to his back.

"Hey, we've got to get used to carrying out weapons around, we're true Viking warriors now," the male twin answered, "Though it would be easier if we had our dragons carrying the weapons for us."

"Look Tuff, Ah didnae bring ye lot along sae 'at Ah cud listen tae yer bellyachin'," Merida said as she shot the young man a glare before she pushed aside some bushes, "Besides, we're already here."

Pushing aside the brush, Merida allowed the others to pass into a clearing that was dominated by a ring of large standing stones. Each of the stones looked like they had been placed there centuries ago with weather worn and rune carved surfaces.

"Huh, it may have been the Vendal we were fighting," the twin girl said as she looked up at the monoliths, "But last time I was here, I don't remember it feeling so…so…"

"Ominous, Ruff?" Astrid provided.

"That's the one," the girl replied, snapping her fingers before pointing at Astrid.

"Yeah, this place still gives me the creeps," Fishlegs concurred.

"Come on," Merida said as she began leading them to the other side of the clearing, "We didnae come here tae stare at rocks."

"Speaking of which, what did we come here for, Princess?" Snotlout questioned as the group followed Merida to a path cut through the undergrowth, "I mean, I know I'm here to check out this witch's hut, but why are you here?"

"Ah'm hopin' tae learn saemethin' from whit she left behind," Merida explained as they walked down the overgrown path, "Ah've been meanin' tae come here fer a while now but Ah just…cudnae."

Merida's face fell as she felt someone put their hand on her shoulder. Turning, she found Astrid smiling sympathetically at her.

"Hey, it's totally understandable," Astrid said, "I may not have known her but I can tell that she meant a lot to you. You just needed time."

"Thanks," Merida replied as she reached up and touched Astrid's hand, the blonde smiling at her before pulling her hand back. By that time, they had reached another, shady clearing that was occupied by a small house that had been built into the roots of a great, old tree.

"So, she lived out here by herself?" Ruff questioned as they all looked around the clearing.

"She had some company," Merida replied as she reached up and stroked Varis' feathers, earning a happy qwork from the crow.

Walking up to the door, Merida tried to open it but found it stuck. After struggling with the door for a moment, she managed to force the door open, allowing the group entrance into the home. It was a simple dwelling, occupied largely by a number of wooden carvings that sat on shelves and tables around the home. The home was divided into a few rooms, such as a kitchen, a workroom and a bedroom, each of the room occupied by wooden and wicker pieces of furniture. The workroom was occupied by a workbench covered in discarded tools and scraps of wood. A large black cauldron sat over a cold firepit in the center of the kitchen.

"She had a thing for carving wood, I take it," Tuff observed as he picked up a woodcarving of what looked like a hut sitting on chicken legs.

"Among other thin's," Merida replied as she ran her hand along the workbench, frowning at the layer of dust that now covered her fingers.

"It's freezing in here," Fishlegs observed with a shiver.

"I'll see if I can get a fire going," Astrid said as she walked over to the firepit and began looking around for kindling to light a fire.

"So, what exactly are you hoping to find here, Merida?" Fishlegs questioned as he walked up next to the princess.

"Ah daenae know," Merida replied with a sigh as she scanned her surroundings, "A book? A scroll? Anythin' she cud hae left behind tae help us find oot more aboot this Jack fellow an' whit he's daein' on Berk."

"Is that the only reason?" Fishlegs pressed, giving Merida a questioning look.

"…Nae," Merida replied after a moment's hesitation, "Somethin' is happenin' tae me, Fish. Somethin's been happenin' tae me fer th' last year, an' whatever it is, Ah think it happened tae Hilde ance upon a time too."

Fishlegs gave Merida a small smile before reaching down and patting her on the shoulder.

"I'll see what I can find," Fishlegs said with a nod before he turned away and began searching through the house.

As the other's looked around, Astrid had managed to find some flint and tinder that she used to start a fire under the cauldron. The fire's glow spread throughout the room, the cauldron casting shadows on the ceiling. As the room lightened, Snotlout happened to glance behind him, his eyes widening as he saw a shelf full of dusty books.

"Hey, Fishlegs, check it out," Snotlout said as he reached up and pulled one of the books off the shelf and held it up for the other Viking to see as he turned to face him, "Looks like this lady had something right up your alley."

Walking over, Fishlegs took the book from Snotlout, glancing it over before turning his attention to the other side of the cottage.

"Merida!" he said, catching the redhead's attention, "I think you should come take a look at this."

Walking over, Merida smiled as she saw the shelf of books.

"This is jist th' type o' thin' 'at Ah was lookin' fer," Merida said as she took a different book off the shelf and blew the layer of dust off of it before smiling up at Fishlegs, "Great work, Fish."

"Hey! I'm the one who found the stupid things," Snotlout argued indignantly as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Good on ye, Snot," Merida replied condescendingly as she patted Snotlout on the shoulder, earning a grunt from the young man as he rolled his eyes at her.

"So, what do they say?" Ruff questioned as she sat down in one of the wicker chairs.

"It might take a while to find out," Fishlegs said with a sigh as he looked over the contents of the book, "It's all written in Old Norse runes."

"Dae ye think ye can decipher it?" Merida asked hopefully.

"It will take some time," Fishlegs answered, "But yeah, I think I can do it."

"Thanks, Fish," Merida said with a sigh as she reached out and pat Fishlegs on his arm.

"Well, I guess we should get settled in," Astrid said as she brushed soot off of her hands.

As the others began looking around for something to pass the time and Fishlegs began pouring over one of the books, Merida began flipping through a different one. To her pleasure, she found that the book contained a few illustrations scattered throughout its pages.

Stopping on one picture, she saw the illustration of a woman. She was a beautiful woman, with angular features and a pale complexion. She wore an elegant dress that appeared to be made of multi-colored feathers and her hair was a rainbow of colors as well. A cloud of songbirds and hummingbirds flitted around her. Merida gingerly touched the picture of the woman before flipping through the book to another illustration.

The next picture she found caused Merida to raise an eyebrow. The illustration depicted an anthropomorphic rabbit, a male one if she had to guess. He was lean and athletic looking, with strange markings on his purplish-grey fur. He wore a few pieces of leather armor and some unusual looking weapons in holsters on his hips. His arms were crossed in front of his chest and he looked forward with a determined expression. Merida looked over the picture for a few more moments before flipping through the book some more.

The next illustration that Merida found sent a chill down her spine. The illustration depicted a tall, gaunt man cloaked in shadow. He appeared to be wearing a black colored robe of some kind, through it was hard to differentiate it from the shadows that surrounded him. His hair was short, black, and swept back. His skin had a bluish-grey pigment to it and his eyes were bright yellow. Merida stared at the picture for a few moments, the blood slowly draining from her face before she squeezed her eyes shut, shook her head and turned the page.

Merida continued flipping through the book until she came to an illustration near the end of the book. The picture depicted a young man, not much older than Merida herself. He had a slim build and a pale complexion with pure white hair and clear blue eyes. He wore a light blue cloak over a similarly colored tunic and brown colored breeches. His feet were completely bare and he carried with him an old worn staff that was shaped like a shepherd's crook.

As Merida looked at the picture, she suddenly felt a chill go through her entire body. As a shiver went through her, she let out a raggedy breath which came out in a white puff. A confused look crossed Merida's face before she spun around to look around the cottage. Looking at her friends, she saw them sitting around the cottage as if nothing had happened. As Merida looked at her friends, something moving in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Looking up at a corner near the ceiling of the cottage she saw a figure crouched on top of another shelf. Her icy blue eyes met with the figure's clear blue ones as they widened in surprise before she felt another chill go through her.

Merida was about to let out a shout of warning before a gust of cold wind suddenly kicked up in the middle of the cottage, the swirling winds forcing the teens to cover their faces as dust kicked up, books slammed closed and the fire under the cauldron gutted out. Merida coughed from the cloud of dust as she stumbled backwards against a wall, covering her face against the flying debris. Then, just as suddenly as it had started, the wind stopped though a pervasive chill still hung in the air.

Merida slowly lowered her arms from her face, revealing that the darkened cottage had been covered in a thin layer of snow. Her friends were all in a similar state as she was, recovering from the surprise blast of wind. What caught Merida's attention though was the person standing right in front of her.

He was the spitting image of the young man Merida had seen in the last pages of the book. He was pointing his staff at Merida with one hand, the crooked end inches away from her face, allowing her to see the layer of permafrost that covered the wood. Merida looked past the staff to the young man who was glaring at her with his clear blue eyes. Merida shivered again as she met his eyes, the cold in the air seeping into her very bones.

"Now, I'm only going to ask you this once," Jack Frost said with a warning tone, "Who are you and where is Hilde?"

A/N: Well, this chapter has been a long time coming. I hope you guys liked it, because I once again had a lot of fun writing it. Hope you guys enjoyed it as well! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	5. Icy Reception

**Chapter 5: Icy Reception**

"Ve have to be hurrying!" North announced as Hiccup rushed back into the smithy, the Rus wearing his coat again despite the sleeves having been burnt off almost to the elbow, "I am not knowing vhat is happening, but I am knowing zat is Jack and I am knowing zat is bad."

"Yeah, no kidding!" Hiccup shouted back, quickly pulling off his cloak, coat and scabbard so that he could throw on his flight harness, "We have to get up there and see what is going on."

"If ve are needing to get up zere so soon, why are you vasting time een smithy?" North questioned from the doorway as Toothless stood beside him, fidgeting anxiously as Hiccup strapped on the harness before pulling on his gloves.

"There's no quicker form of travel then the back of a Night Fury," Hiccup answered as he grabbed his crossbow and quiver, strapped the two of them to his belt, threw his scabbard and cloak back on and rushed out the door before hopping onto Toothless' back and strapping in.

"Hiccup, wait!" Stoick said as he ran up to his son's side, "You can't go up there son, it's too dangerous. We don't know what we're dealing with."

"I can't just sit here and wait, Dad," Hiccup argued with a look of stubborn determination, "Merida's up there. I have to do something!"

"She's not the only one," Fishguts announced as he ran up to them, "She came by and collected Fishlegs before she left. Sounded like she was bring all of their friends with them too."

"So, the whole lot of them is up there," Spitelout surmised from Stoick's side as he shot a worried glance at the storm covered mountain.

"We need to get up there, Dad," Hiccup pressed as Toothless grunted impatiently underneath him, "We have to stop whatever's going on before it gets out of hand."

Stoick gave his son a worried look before sighing and nodding reluctantly.

"You're right," Stoick relented before putting his hand on his son's shoulder and giving it a squeeze, "Get goin'. We'll be right behind you."

Hiccup smiled and nodded his head before urging Toothless upward. Toothless shot into the air with a beat of his large wings, kicking up a cloud of snow in his wake. Within seconds, Hiccup and Toothless became nothing more than a dot in the distance shooting towards the mountain. Stoick watched him go before turning his attention towards North.

"Aren't you supposed to be helpin' him?" Stoick questioned.

"_Da,_ vhich ees vhy I am leaving now," North replied as he began walking away.

"You won't make it very fast on foot," Stoick pointed out.

"Vhich ees vhy I am not going on foot," North replied before bringing his fingers up to his mouth and blowing a loud whistle. Moments later, the thunderous pounding of hooves could be heard throughout the village before Donner came charging around a corner, the villagers scattering to get out of the reindeer's way. As Donner approached him, North reached up and hooked his arm around the reindeer's neck before swinging himself up onto the animal's back as it sped past.

"Come Donner," North said as they sped through the city, "Let us be showing zem a trick!"

With a snort, Donner ran straight at a house, leaping into the air as he drew closer to it. Landing on the roof, Donner took another mighty leap, sending them both flying into the air. Instead of falling, Donner began pumping his legs as if he was running upon the air, which carried him higher and higher into the air. As the villagers looked on in astonishment, North let out a deep belly laugh before he and Donner disappeared over the tree line.

"Well," Spitelout said, a shocked look on his face, "I guess we wasn't lying about the reindeer."

"Guess not," Stoick agreed before turning his attention towards the gathered villagers, "Everyone, listen up! I need anyone who has a dragon and feels comfortable enough on it to mount up and get out there. The rest of you will make their way there on foot with me. I don't know what we'll find up there, but I need every able and willin' sword. Who's with me?"

A cry went up from the crowd as a majority of the villagers volunteered.

"Good," Stoick replied with a nod, "Now get ready, we needed to leave five minutes ago. Everyone else, take shelter in your homes. It looks like there's a storm coming."

With that, the villagers and dragons sprang into action, running in every direction as they prepared for the possibility of battle.

"You think this will all be necessary?" Spitelout questioned, following Stoick as he began making his way towards his home.

"I don't know," Stoick admitted, "But I don't want to be caught off guard if it is."

"Do you really think we can fight a god?" Spitelout asked uncertainly.

"I don't know, I've never fought one," Stoick stated before turning and giving Spitlout a look of determination, "But if this Jack Frost thinks he can come onto my island and drop a blizzard on our heads, he's got another thing comin'."

_Meanwhile_,

Merida tried to force herself to remain calm despite the fact her heart was hammering in her chest. Her eyes were locked with Jack's, the end of his staff still inches from her face, something she innately knew was dangerous. Varis was cawing madly in the corner of the room, but besides that the cottage was deathly silent.

"I asked you a question," Jack stated, his tone threatening, "Don't make me ask it again."

"Ah…Ah knew Hilde," Merida managed to get out, "She…She was a friend o' mine. Ah'm guessin' she was a friend o' yers too."

"Don't change the subject!" Jack snapped, pointing the end of his staff closer to Merida's face, "What do you mean you knew her? Where is she!?"

"She's…she's nae here anymore," Merida replied, dreading telling Jack the truth.

"What do you mean!?" Jack demanded angrily.

"She's dead, Jack," Merida answered simply, "She's gone."

The truth seemed to strike Jack like a blow to the face sending him reeling. For a moment, his face fell with sadness and he lowered his staff slightly, causing Merida to sigh in relief. Then, in a flash, Jack's sorrow was replaced with anger and he turned to glare at Merida as he raised his staff back to her face.

"Who did this!?" Jack demanded, "This place was supposed to be safe! No one was supposed…"

Jack trailed off as a look of realization passed over his features, quickly replaced with anger once more.

"You did this!" Jack shouted at Merida.

"Nae!" Merida replied, "Nae, Ah swear we didnae! She was ma friend!"

"LIAR!" Jack shouted back, "You're working with that bastard Mor'du, aren't you!? You lead him straight to her!"

"Ah didnae, Ah swear! She was ma friend, ye hae tae-" Merida cut herself short, a look of shock on her face as she looked past Jack, "Snotlout, daenae!"

As Merida shouted out her warning, Snotlout let out a loud shout as he leapt at Jack from behind. Eyes widening, Jack whipped around before thrusting his hand at Snotlout as the young man flew through the air at him. A second later, a powerful gust of icy wind sprang from Jack's outstretched hand, hitting Snotlout square in the chest. The force of the blow completely reversed Snotlout's momentum, sending him shooting backwards through the air right into the cottage door. Snotlout's momentum shattered the door, sending him flying outside in a storm of splitters. The ripple of the wind shook the whole cottage, knocking the other teens to the ground as small objects went flying in the blast's wake. Merida looked on in shock before turning her attention back to Jack, only to find he was no longer standing in front of her, but was somehow already at the door, stepping through the broken frame to follow Snotlout into the clearing outside.

Snotlout groaned in pain as he tried to pick himself up, snowflakes swirling around him. Hearing footsteps crunching through the fresh snow, Snotlout turned to look, his eyes widening in fear as he saw Jack stalking towards him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Snotlout said as he scrambled to his feet, holding his hands out towards Jack, "Easy there, pal. I think you and I have gotten off on the wrong foot here."

Jack ignored Snotlout as he drew closer to the young man, the increasingly turbulent weather swirling around him.

"The princess was telling the truth, you know," Snotlout continued as he took a few hesitant steps away from Jack, "We didn't have anything to do with the old lady's death. Honest."

Jack continued forward, deaf to Snotlout's words, the snow on the ground stirring in his wake.

"Come on man, we can…" Snotlout began to say before sighing, "Ah, to Hel with it."

With a shout, Snotlout pulled his mace off of his belt before taking a swing at Jack's head. Jack easily sidestepped the attack before spinning around Snotlout as the young man swung at him again. Spinning around, Snotlout took a third wing at Jack, which the godling dodged by planting his staff in the ground and bending over backwards at the knees, allowing the attack to sail over him. As the momentum spun Snotlout around, Jack grasped his staff with two hands before lifting himself off the ground. As Snotlout finished his spin, Jack kicked him twice in the chest and once across the jaw, sending the Viking sprawling.

Flipping back to his feet, Jack pulled his staff out of the ground as Snotlout picked himself up off the ground and charged at Jack again. Jack easily parried Snotlout's first attack before spinning his staff around to block Snotlout's follow up. Snotlout went on the offensive with a half a dozen more swings, each of which Jack blocked with his spinning staff or sidestepped with graceful ease. As Snotlout swung at him from the side, Jack blocked the attack with one arm before looping the crook of his staff around the Viking's neck and pulling the young man's head down as the spirit thrust his knee upwards, slamming the two together. As the blow sent Snotlout reeling, Jack unhooked his staff from the young man's neck before spinning it around and smacking the young man across the face with it, knocking him to the ground.

Snotlout groaned in pain as he tried to push himself back to his feet, Jack spinning his staff around as he approached the Viking. Before Jack reached Snotlout, he heard the sounds of footsteps rapidly approaching him from behind. Turning, he found Ruff and Tuff rushing at him, weapons at the ready. Tuff reached him first, thrusting one end of his double-ended spear at Jack. Jack easily parried the attack, pushing the spear to the side and stepping around Tuff as the young man stumbled past him. Stepping towards Ruff, Jack watched as she leapt into the air, swinging her hatchet down at him. Lifting up his staff, Jack blocked the swing, before turning Ruff's momentum to the side. As she stumbled to a stop, Jack spun and tried to backhand Ruff, but she ducked the blow and spun around to face him. Gripping her dagger in her other hand, Ruff stabbed at Jack, but the godling managed to dodge and catch her hand on his staff. Ruff quickly followed up with another swing of her hatchet, but Jack managed to catch this attack with the other end of his staff. With both of her weapons blocked on his staff, Jack spun them both around so the two of them were facing away from one another while sliding his staff over Ruff's neck. Ruff struggled against him for a moment before Jack pulled forward, flipping her over his back and tossing her to the ground.

As Ruff tried to pick herself up, Tuff came rushing at Jack once more. Jack gracefully sidestepped Tuff's thrust before blocking the Viking's follow-up swing. Jack quickly pushed back on the spear, knocking it to the side before he stepped forward and slammed his palm against Tuff's chest, sending the young man stumbling backwards. Unbalanced, Tuff was unable to defend himself as Jack rushed him. Swinging low, Jack struck the inside of one of Tuff's legs before swinging back and hitting the other one, forcing Tuff into a spread position. Jack quickly followed up by swinging his staff upwards, hitting Tuff right in the groin, causing the young man to wheeze in pain as he doubled over. As Tuff fell to his knees, Jack spun his staff around and planted the butt of the weapon against the young man's chest before thrusting it forward, the force of which sent Tuff rolling across the snow covered ground.

Hearing another person approaching him, Jack turned to face Ruff as she charged at him again. Jack easily blocked her first few strikes before catching her again as Ruff took a leaping lunge at him with both of her weapons. As Ruff landed with her weapons caught, Jack quickly spun his staff vertically in front of him which lifted Ruff up and spun her through the air as well. As Ruff landed in a heap on the ground, Jack reached out and snatched his still spinning staff from the air. As Ruff pushed herself to her and knees, Jack grabbed his staff near the end with both hands before stepping forward and swinging downward, hitting Ruff in the stomach and sending her tumbling across the clearing, the force of the blow kicking up some of the snow on the ground around Jack.

"This is getting out of hand," Fishlegs said as he, Astrid and Merida stepped out of the cottage, watching as Snotlout, Ruff and Tuff picked themselves up and charged at Jack again.

"We hae tae stop them afore someane gets hurt," Merida stated.

"Or worse," Astrid added grimly.

With all three teens attacking him at once, Jack was forced to constantly keep on the both, spinning in place as he dodged and blocked Snotlout, Ruff and Tuff's attacks. Growing frustrated, Jack spun his staff above his head, forcing the three Vikings back and giving Jack enough room to slam the butt of his staff against the ground, creating a burst of wind that swirled outwards from Jack and sent the teens flying.

Snotlout let out a grunt of pain as he rolled to a stop on his back, shaking his head until his vision cleared, revealing Merida standing over him against the stormy sky above.

"Look at whit ye've done, ye bleedin' moron!" Merida growled down at Snotlout as the young man sat up.

"What I've done?" Snotlout questioned incredulously as he pushed himself back to his feet, "I saved your life!"

"Ah was tryin' tae talk him doon!" Merida shouted back, "Ye savin' me may hae killed us all!"

A look of fear passed over Snotlout's features before he and Merida turned to look back at Jack. Merida let out a shocked gasp as she saw Jack step over Tuff, planting his foot on the young man's chest and gripping his staff with two hands, holding it at the ready to stab the Viking with as the end of it began to glow an icy blue.

Tuff let out a frightened cry as Jack moved to stab him, only to freeze in place as an arrow went whizzing past his face. Glancing to the side, Jack saw that the arrow had struck a tree at the edge of the clearing, the missile vibrating with unspent energy. Glancing in the other direction, Jack found Merida standing a short distance away with her bow pointed at him, another arrow already notched on the quivering string.

'At was a warnin' shot," Merida warned as she glared at Jack, "Ah wonae miss again, sae Ah suggest ye step off ma friend."

"You're friends attacked me," Jack shot back, not moving from his spot.

"After ye threatened me!" Merida argued, growing angrier by the second.

"For good reason," Jack growled, "You were the ones who broke into her house and went rummaging through her things like a pack of common thieves. What kind of friend would do that!?"

"It wasnae like 'at!" Merida shouted back, angry tears welling up in her eyes.

"Of course it wasn't," Jack spat as he glared into Merida's eyes "But it's what you did all the same. I don't know how Hilde died, whether you killed her or not, but I know one thing for sure."

Merida trembled as Jack spoke, barely able to keep her bow trained on him.

"It's your fault Hilde's dead," Jack finished, "I can see it in your eyes."

"SHUT UP!" Merida screamed as she loosed the arrow at Jack, tears streaming down her face. As it reached him, Jack batted the arrow away with his staff before thrusting a hand at Merida. A blast of freezing wind shot out of Jack's outstretched hand, kicking up loose snow as it shot across the clearing and struck Merida in the chest, knocking her clear off her feet and sending her flying through the air before slamming onto the ground.

"Merida!" Fishlegs shouted in fear as he rushed over to where she had landed, scooping her into his arms, finding her chest covered in a thin layer of frost. Merida's face was pale and her lips had turned dark blue as she shivered violently in Fishlegs' arms.

"You bastard!" Tuff shouted at Jack as he reached for his spear only for the godling to slam his foot against the Viking's chest again and raise his staff to try and stab the young man a second time. Before he could, something came charging in from the side, knocking him off of Tuff's chest, carrying him through the air a short distance before lifting him up and slamming him onto the frozen ground with enough force to crack it. Jack let out a wheezing cough of pain as he looked up to see Astrid stepping over him.

"I'm going to make you regret that," Astrid threatened as she pulled her waraxe out of the holster on her back, twirled it in her hand and spun to face Jack as the spirit picked himself up off the ground. Growling, Jack rushed at Astrid, swinging his staff at her. Astrid batted the attack away with her axe before swinging it back at Jack's head, forcing the godling to lean back to avoid the blade. Using her momentum to her advantage, Astrid spun in place and swung her axe at Jack again, forcing the spirit to duck the attack. Spinning as he ducked, Jack tried to sweep Astrid's legs but she nimbly jumped over his staff before snapping out a kick, hitting the godling in the back and sending him tumbling across the ground.

Rolling to his feet, Jack rushed at Astrid and swung his staff at her again. Astrid lifted her axe to block but with a sudden twist, Jack managed to hook the crook of his staff around her weapon. With a yank, Jack pulled the axe out of Astrid grasp before spinning his staff around and hurling the axe across the clearing where it imbedded itself into the side of a tree.

For half a second, Astrid looked shocked before she turned her attention back to Jack as the spirit spun around and swung at her again. Astrid ducked under Jack's swing before flipping over his staff as he swung it back around to try and sweep her legs. As Jack tried to pull his staff back, Astrid rushed him, hopping up and planting her feet against his chest before bouncing off of him sending Jack skidding across the icy ground as she backflipped and landed a short distance away.

As Jack caught himself, he looked to find Astrid already rushing him. Jack swung his staff blindly at Astrid, only for the blonde to duck under the attack before reaching up and grabbing his weapon with one hand. Holding Jack's staff in place, Astrid spun around and slammed her elbow into Jack's stomach, sending him stumbling back a few paces. As Jack caught himself Astrid spun away before they both grabbed his staff with two hands. Jack tried to push her away, only for Astrid to lean into him, causing him to skid across the ground as she pushed him backwards. Growling in frustration, Jack planted his feet before leaping into the air, keeping a hold on his staff as he flipped over Astrid. With the staff still in their hands and their arms outstretched behind them, Jack pulled his staff down, flipping Astrid over his head. Jack was expecting Astrid to let go of his staff and get sent flying away, but to his shock, she held firm, landing on the balls of her feet in front of him with enough force to kick up a cloud of snowflakes, his staff still grasped firmly in her hands.

Astrid lifted her head to look at Jack, smirking as she saw the shocked look on his face. Gripping the staff tightly, Astrid planted her feet before yanking to the side, pulling Jack off his feet as she spun. After completing her spin, Astrid let go of Jack's staff, sending the spirit tumbling through the air before he crashed into a nearby tree, sending broken branches tumbling to the ground as he slammed against one of the thicker branches.

Astrid smirked and gave a satisfied nod before she began walking towards the tree that her axe was stuck in. Before she could, a sudden crash brought her attention to the tree that she had just thrown Jack into. Looking at it, she saw Jack leaping out of the tree before running at her full sprint as he landed. As Jack ran, he dragged his staff along the ground behind him, creating a violent wake of wind and snow behind him. Before Astrid could react, Jack was on her, spinning around and swinging his staff at Astrid, the blast of snow and wind following behind him hitting her full force. The blast sent Astrid flying into the air, the momentum carrying her across the clearing before slamming into the trunk of a tree, chunks of bark sent flying by the impact. Astrid stayed against the trunk for a few moments before she slid off and began falling. As she fell, Astrid hit a thick branch with her torso, which spun her so she slammed against the next one on her back. Astrid groaned in pain as she slid off and fell the rest of the way to the frozen ground below. Groaning in pain, Astrid tried to push herself to her feet before letting out a sharp cry and grabbing her arm as she fell back to the ground.

Fishlegs looked on in horror as he watched Jack approach Astrid, Merida still shivering in his arms. As he looked on, Snotlout and the twins joined his side.

"Gods, this guy is unstoppable," Snotlout said, pale faced.

"Hold her," Fishlegs grunted as he thrust Merida at Snotlout forcing the young man to take the princess in his arms.

"Whoa, where are you going!?" Tuff questioned as Fishlegs stalked towards Jack.

"I'm going to go talk to him," Fishlegs replied, glancing back at the others as he pulled his warhammer out of its holster on his back, allowing them to see that his face had turned red and the veins in his neck had bulged outwards while his eyes had turned pure white.

"Oh crap," Ruff said wearily, "Fishlegs is pissed."

"So?" Tuff asked in confusion.

"Dude," Snotlout said as he turned to look at Tuff with an incredulous expression, "The last time he got pissed he jumped off his dragon and hit Mor'du in the face."

"Oh," Tuff replied with a look of understanding, "Right."

Jack was completely focused on Astrid as she continued to try and pick herself up off of the ground, gripping her arm in pain. His focus was so narrowed though that he didn't hear Fishlegs charging towards him until the young man was nearly on top of him.

"Hey!" Fishlegs shouted, catching Jack's attention just as the Viking threw all his strength into swinging his warhammer at the spirit. Jack only had the time to widen his eyes in surprise before the iron hammerhead slammed against his chest. Jack was lifted off of his feet as the very air seemed to shake around him and Fishlegs. As Fishlegs followed through with his swing, the blow sent Jack flying through the air, a cloud of snow exploding into the air in his wake. Jack soared across the clearing before slamming against a tree with enough force to send a crack straight through the trunk as branches and splinters went flying. For a moment, the air was still as Jack leaned against the tree. Then, a loud groan reverberated through the clearing as the top of the tree leaned to the side before it came crashing to the ground with Jack in tow, a cloud of snow and dirt kicking up as the treetop slammed against the frozen earth.

Fishlegs stood in the middle of the clearing, looking at his handiwork with his white eyes as the others looked at him in shock. As he watched, Fishlegs saw Jack pulling himself out from the broken branches. Glaring, Fishlegs growled before he began stalking towards Jack, dragging his hammer along the ground behind him.

"Yeah, let's not piss Fishlegs off anytime soon," Tuff stated, pale faced, earning nods from Ruff and Snotlout. As they watched, the sound of a roar and swooping wings caught their attention before Toothless landed near the middle of the clearing, Hiccup quickly sliding of his back as he looked around.

"What's going on, guys!?" he called to them as he turned to look at the three other teens, "What hap-"

Hiccup froze as he saw Merida clutched in Snotlout's arms. His face going pale, Hiccup rushed over, sliding to a stop on his knees next to Snotlout so that he could get a better look at Merida, who was still shivering in his cousin's arms.

"What happened?" Hiccup questioned as he reached out and touched Merida's brow, "Gods, she's ice cold."

"I screwed up, cuz," Snotlout answered, his face falling, "That guy…he showed up out of nowhere and he was pissed. Merida tried talking him down but I was sure that he was going to hurt her. I thought I was doing the right thing but…I think I made everything worse."

Looking over his shoulder, Hiccup saw Jack dodge out of the way of another one of Fishlegs' swing before firing another blast of frigid air that the young man was forced to roll out of the way.

"We have to put a stop to this," Hiccup surmised before looking back at his cousin and the twins, "Where's Astrid?"

"She's not looking so good right now either," Ruff replied, indicating to Astrid, who had managed to pull herself back to her feet, still holding her injured arm.

"Okay," Hiccup said as he took off his cloak and wrapped it around Merida with Snotlout's help, "Snotlout, how you feeling about flying?"

"Uh, pretty good, I guess," Snotlout replied, looking at Hiccup in confusion, "Why?"

"I need you to take Toothless and get Merida back to the village," Hiccup replied as he looked at his cousin pleadingly, "I need you to get her to Gothi. Can you do that for me?"

"No problem, cuz," Snotlout replied with a determined nod, taking Merida back into his arms, "I'm your man. As long as your dragon doesn't throw me off."

"I don't think you have to worry about that," Hiccup replied as he turned and pat Toothless on the head, "Right pal?"

Toothless snorted in reply before nodding his head. Lifting Merida up, Snotlout climbed onto Toothless' back, doing his best to keep a tight grip on both the princess and the dragon. Once Snotlout was as secure as he could be, Toothless took off, disappearing in the direction of the village.

"What about us?" Tuff questioned.

"I need you two to take Astrid and get her back to the village," Hiccup replied, "You'll probably run into my dad and the villagers on their way here. I'm sure they'll help you get her back safe."

Tuff nodded as he ran over to Astrid's side, letting the young woman put her arm around his shoulders for support. Ruff hesitated for a moment as she looked at Hiccup.

"What about you?" she asked.

"I'm going to put an end to this," Hiccup answered as he drew Bemuhen out of its scabbard, "Now, get Astrid back to the village."

Ruff nodded before running over to help Astrid. Hiccup watched them as they left the clearing before turning his attention to Fishlegs and Jack. The two of them were standing a few feet apart, glaring at each other. Then, all at once, they charged one another, their weapons held at the ready but before the two of them could reach each other, Hiccup ran in between them.

"That's enough!" Hiccup shouted, pointing his sword at Jack as he held a hand up to Fishlegs, causing them both to skid to a halt "This has gone on long enough!"

"Yeah!? And who are…" Jack began to say angrily, but his voice trailed off as his eyes fell on Hiccup's sword, "I know that sword."

"Huh?" Hiccup questioned in confusion, his attention focused on Jack.

"I know that sword," Jack repeated before turning his attention towards Hiccup, "Hilde had that sword in her cottage. Why do you have it? Did you steal that too!?"

"No!" Hiccup replied, pausing before continuing "She gave it to me,"

"Why would she do that?" Jack questioned, growing more confused and on edge.

"Because…" Hiccup paused and sighed sadly, his sword still pointed at Jack, "Because she was my grandmother."

"What?" Jack asked, growing even more confused, "Your grandmother?"

"Well, more like my many times great grandmother," Hiccup explained, "She…she was pretty old."

"Yeah," Jack agreed, lowering his guard slightly, "I guess she was and I guess I can sort of see the resemblance."

"I can tell you're upset, it seems like you knew her pretty well," Hiccup continued, trying to keep Jack calm, "I know who you are too, Jack Frost."

"How do you know my name?" Jack asked in surprised confusion.

"Your friend North told me," Hiccup explained, "He's here looking for you."

"North's looking for me?" Jack asked, growing only more confused, "Why?"

"Something big has started happening, and it's looking like you're at the center of it," Hiccup went on, looking at Jack pleadingly, "We're on the same side here, Jack. How about we all calm down and talk this over."

As Hiccup talked, the weather slowly began to calm and the sky cleared up once more.

"Yeah," Jack stated as he completely dropped his guard, "Yeah, okay."

"Sounds good," Hiccup replied with a smile as he lowered his sword, "How about you, Fish? You're being awfully quiet back there."

"It probably has to do with the fact that your hand is on fire," Jack pointed out.

"What!?" Hiccup said in surprise before he spun around to face Fishlegs, finding his best friend, seeing a now calmer Fishlegs mesmerized by Hiccup's outstretched hand, which indeed was engulfed in red and yellow flames. Turning towards Fishlegs, Hiccup pulled his burning hand closer, an astonished look on his face. He saw that his glove had burned away, as had most of the sleeve of both his coat and tunic.

"I didn't say anything before because I wasn't sure if that was normal or not," Jack commented from behind Hiccup, "Judging by your reactions I'm guess it's not."

"I…I don't even feel it," Hiccup stated as he flexed his hand, the flames dancing across his skin as he moved.

"How…How do you get it to stop?" Fishlegs questioned.

"I…I don't know if I can," Hiccup replied, a troubled expression on his face.

"Here," Jack said as he stepped around Hiccup, "Let me try something."

Reaching out with his own hand, Jack clasped Hiccup's burning one, a cloud of steam kicking up as the two met. As the steam dissipated, it revealed Hiccup's hand had returned to normal.

"Thanks," Hiccup said, earning a nod from Jack.

At that moment, Donner suddenly came charging out of the sky with North on his back. As Donner landed, North quickly slid off of the reindeer's back and began looking around wildly.

"Jack!" North cried as he looked around, "You have to be stoping, zese people are our…"

North trailed off as he saw Jack, Hiccup and Fishlegs standing a short distance away, all looking at the older man in surprise, the Viking and the godlings hands still clasped together.

"Oh," North said in surprise, "I am missing everyzing, aren't I?"

A/N: So, I know I tend to say this a lot but believe me when I say that this chapter was amazingly fun to write, which is probably why I got this chapter out so quickly. It was great to stretch my fight scene muscles again, especially with someone as powerful as Jack. Hope you guys liked it! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	6. Witching Hour

**Chapter 6: Witching Hour**

Atop one of the cliffs that flanked the natural bay the village of Berk sat in, a small hut sat, raised above the ground by stilts. A short flight of stairs led from the ground to a simple deck that surrounded the door to the house. Before the door stood the frail form of Gothi, looking up at the mountain that marked the center of the island, watching as the storm clouds that surrounded it slowly dissipated. As she watched, something caught her gaze, causing her to narrow her eyes to try and get a better look at the small dot she saw flying through the air. As she realized what it was, Gothi's eyes widened before she began making her way down the stairs as quickly as she could. A second later, Toothless landed at the foot of the stairs, allowing Snotlout to slide off with Merida clutched in his arms.

"What happened!?" Gothi exclaimed as she approached them.

"That guy you and Hiccup have been talking about…that Jack Frost guy…" Snotlout tried to explain, a worried expression on his face as he held Merida so that Gothi could see her, "He attacked her…I don't know what he did."

Reaching out, Gothi placed her hand on Merida's brow before pulling it back with a gasp.

"She's ice cold," she said worriedly, before glancing at Toothless, who was nervously shuffling behind Snotlout, "Where's Hiccup? Why do you have his dragon?"

"He stayed behind to deal with Jack," Snotlout replied as he glanced back towards the mountain, "He told me to get Merida back to you as soon as possible."

"Well, we haven't a moment to spare," Gothi replied as she turned back to the hut and began making her way up the steps, "Come along, and hurry!"

Snotlout quickly followed behind Gothi with Merida in his arms as she made her way into her hut, Toothless waiting outside. As he entered the hut, Snotlout took a moment to glance around the cramped space. The entire hut seemed to be cramped with all sorts of things, from simple pieces of furniture to shelves stuffed with books and scrolls and cabinets filled with all sorts of ingredients that Snotlout decided he did not wish to know the origins of. Snotlout was forced to duck as he walked through the hallway at the entrance to the hut in order to avoid the various talismans and fetishes that hung from the ceiling. As he walked, he noticed nearly a dozen tiny dragons had taken up residence in the hut, scurrying by underfoot and chirping up at Snotlout as he passed.

"Bring her in here, quickly!" Gothi bid, indicating to a side room occupied mostly by a bed. Doing as he was bid, Snotlout quickly brought the shivering Merida into the room and laid her down on the bed, still wrapped in Hiccup's cloak.

"Here, put these on the bed," Gothi instructed as she came into the room, holding a bundle of blankets.

"You want me to cover her up?" Snotlout questioned as he took the bundle.

"No, I need to get her out of those clothes first," Gothi explained as she moved past Snotlout, "If that frost on her chest melts, it will soak her to the bone and we'll be right back where we started."

"Oh," Snotlout replied as he set the blankets down at the foot of the bed.

"Now, be a dear and go fetch me some water," Gothi stated as she began unbundling Merida from the cloak, "There should be a bucket in the hall somewhere. I'll need it heated up too, so see if you can get the Night Fury or one of my Terrors to help you with that."

With a nod, Snotlout turned and rushed out of the room, grabbing a bucket sitting on the floor as he made his way to the door. As he left, Gothi quickly began to undress Merida, fretting as she saw the princess' clothes had already started to soak through.

"I know I've never been one to pray to you," Gothi whispered to herself as she undressed Merida before covering the shivering girl with the blankets, "But I believe we're going to need a little fire to counteract this cold, Lord Loki."

As Gothi spoke, she moved over to a nearby fireplace and began to make a fire. As she tried to light a spark, the pile of wood she had made suddenly caught fire in a whoosh of air and heat, causing Gothi to jump back in surprise.

"I will take that as a good sign," Gothi observed with a small smile before she went to work getting the rest of her preparations done.

_Meanwhile_,

There was a moment of silence in the clearing outside Hilde's hut as Jack, Hiccup and Fishlegs all looked at North in surprise.

"North?" Jack questioned, quirking his eyebrow at the older man, "What are you doing here?"

"I am looking for you, my friend," North answered.

"Looking for me?" Jack questioned in confusion, "Why?"

"Eet ees being long story," North replied as he looked around the clearing, noticing the broken tree and other signs of battle, "Vhat vas happening here?"

"I had some…disagreements with the locals," Jack answered, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Disagreements!?" Fishlegs shouted, quickly growing angry again, "Is that what you call trying to kill me and my friends!?"

Fishlegs began to move towards Jack but was stopped as Hiccup lifted his burnt hand up in front of the larger boy, causing the blonde to flinch backwards as he looked at his best friend's hand wearily.

"Vhat deed you do, Jack?" North questioned, narrowing his eyes at Jack, who's own gaze fell under the weight of the Rus' glare.

"Look, I found out some bad news and I may have jumped to some conclusions," Jack admitted, "And then I may have overreacted."

"That's putting it lightly," Fishlegs stated with a snort of contempt.

"I am taking eet zat someone got hurt?" North questioned, glancing over at Fishlegs.

"He roughed up Snotlout and the twins pretty good and I'm pretty sure Astrid has a broken arm," Fishlegs continued before glaring at Jack again, "That's nothing compared to what he did to Merida."

"Jack," North said with an angry tone as he turned his attention to the spirit again.

"Look, I just threw a little cold at her, I didn't freeze her solid or anything," Jack replied defensively, "Besides, she's the one who shot an arrow at me!"

"_Yób tvoyú mat,_" North mumbled to himself as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "I stirred up enough trouble vhen I came here. Vhen ze chief finds out…"

"Oh, don't worry," Stoick's voice came from the edge of the clearing, where he stood surrounded by a large number of Viking warriors, "I'm already aware."

"_Pizdéts_," North muttered as he turned to look at Stoick with wide eyes.

Stoick was on Jack before anyone could react, moving faster that anyone with his bulk had a right to move, grabbing the spirit by the neck and lifting him off his feet, his massive hand almost encompassing the godling's head.

"As you may have guessed, I'm the chief on this island," Stoick growled, his face inches from Jack's as the spirit struggled to escape from his grasp, "That means I don't take kindly to people coming on my island and hurting my people, like perhaps, breaking a teenage girl's arm in two."

Jack hissed in pain as Stoick squeezed harder on his head.

"And when that same person tried to freeze the heart of my future daughter-in-law well," Stoick growled as he squeezed even harder on Jack's skull, "That's when I start taking things personally."

"Dad, that's enough!" Hiccup shouted as he took a step towards his father.

"We can't allow someone to hurt our people and get away with it, son," Stoick replied, not letting go of Jack, who continued to struggle against the Viking chief's grip, "That's something you'll have to understand for when you're chief one day."

"I do understand that, Dad," Hiccup continued, "But you can't do this. We need him, regardless of what he's done to us."

Stoick hesitated for a moment as he looked over at Hiccup, not letting go of Jack even as his hand began to go numb from cold.

"You have to trust me," Hiccup pleaded, looking his father dead in the eye.

Stoick hesitated for a second moment, before giving a reluctant grunt and dropping Jack to the ground.

"You're lucky my son has a softer heart than me," Stoick said as he looked down at Jack.

"You're lucky you didn't hold on for a little while longer or you would have gotten a nasty case of frostbite," Jack managed to cough out in reply as he picked himself back up to his feet. Stoick merely snorted in reply before turning his attention back to Hiccup.

"Are you alright, son?" Stoick questioned as he approached Hiccup.

"Been better but okay," Hiccup reassured his father with a shrug. As he did, Stoick's eyes fell on Hiccup's burnt arm.

"What happened to your arm?" Stoick questioned, drawing North's attention to it as well.

"Nothing, I'm fine," Hiccup answered, rubbing his exposed arm self-consciously, "Just had a…bit of an accident."

"Bit of an accident, huh?" Stoick questioned, clearly not believing that that was the whole story but unwilling to push the issue any further, before he glanced back at Jack, "So, what is it you want us to do with this one?"

"I'm not sure yet," Hiccup answered with a shrug, glancing over at Jack as he spoke, "I was hoping to talk to him to get a better idea of what's going on."

"Alright, just be careful, Hiccup," Stoick stated with a sigh before his expression turned stern, "I tell you one thing now though. He is not staying in a guest house."

"Fair enough, Dad," Hiccup agreed with a nod. Giving a satisfied nod of his own, Stoick turned and walked back to the group of Vikings who were waiting at the edge of the clearing.

"Alright everyone, it looks like my son has everything under control here," Stoick announced, "We will head back to the village for now."

There was a rumble of acceptance from the crowd as well as a few grumbles of disappointment as the Viking warriors began making their way back into the forest and headed in the direction of the village.

As the crowd began to move out, Stoick stepped forward and place his hand onto the shoulder of another man as he walked by. The man was tall and lanky with long, blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a forest green cloak along with a long, brown fur coat, brown breeches, brown, leather boots and brown, fur gloves. A bow and quiver were slung around his shoulders beneath his cloak.

"Tuff," Stoick said as the man stopped to look at him, "I need you to hang around and keep an eye on things here. Let us know if anything happens."

"Will do," Tuff replied before pulling his hood up and slipping away into the forest. Stoick took one last moment to look back at his son before heading back towards the village with the rest of the crowd.

"So, are you going to be telling me vhat really happened to your arm?" North questioned as he walked up next to Hiccup.

"It caught on fire," Jack pointed out, earning a quick glare from Hiccup.

"I am zeenking eet ees time I am having a closer look at your arm," North stated before holding his hand out to Hiccup. Hiccup sighed before reluctantly holding his arm out to North, rolling the remains of his sleeve up as he did. North took the next few minutes to carefully look over the burn that spiraled its way up and down Hiccup's right arm. When he was done, North stepped back, nodding his head as he stroked his beard pensively.

"Ze speereet of fire vas mentioning he had touched you vhen he beed me to come here," North stated, "I vas not knowing vhat he meant until now."

"Gothi said it was a blessing when I first showed her it," Hiccup explained as he looked down at his arm, flexing his hand as he did.

"She was being right," North agreed with a nod, "I am being sure you are seeing zat now."

"So, what? Loki gave me the power to light my right arm on fire?" Hiccup questioned with a dubious expression.

"I am believing eet to be much more zan zat," North replied with a chuckle, "You veell be needing to practice to figure out vhat you can really do."

"Practice?" Hiccup repeated with a doubtful tone, "I don't even know how to turn it on and off."

"I veell be helping you figure zat out as vell," North stated with a sagely nod before he glanced over at Jack, "I am being sure Jack can help you as well."

Hiccup looked uncertain before he glanced over at Jack as well, the spirit standing a short distance away, watching the exchange.

"You haven't told me yet how you knew Hilde," Hiccup pointed out as he rolled what remained of his sleeve back down his arm, which was starting to turn white against the cold air.

"I like to travel," Jack replied with a shrug, "I guess it kind of comes with controlling the winds and such. A couple of years back, I ended up wandering here. I still don't know if it was by chance that I ended up here or if Hilde somehow led me here but I ended up following a bunch of wisps right to her house."

"Knowing her, it was probably by her design," Fishlegs commented as he crossed his arms over his chest. Jack chuckled at the comment before his expression fell as he noticed Fishlegs glaring at him.

"Anyway," Jack continued with an awkward cough, "The time that I met her was kind of a tough one for me, and she ended up being exactly the person I needed to know at that time. She helped me figure some things out about myself and picked me up from that bad time. I've visited her every now and again since then."

"Vhy vere you never telling me about her?" North questioned.

"Because she needed to stay secret," Jack explained, "When I first met her, she told me why she was out here. She told me she was hiding and who she was hiding from."

"Mor'du," Hiccup supplied, his face turning grim, "The Demon Bear. Her son."

"So, she told you too, huh?" Jack questioned.

"It was more piecing together a puzzle for us," Fishlegs replied.

"So, what exactly happened?" Jack inquired, glancing between Hiccup and Fishlegs.

"Mor'du was able to find her," Hiccup answered, "I'm still not sure if it was something that we did or if he figured it out on his own but he found her either way."

"What happened then?" Jack pressed.

"Well, I'm sure you must know why Hilde was hiding from Mor'du," Hiccup stated.

"The Red Death," Jack replied with shock, "He didn't release it did he?"

"He did," Hiccup replied with a nod, "At the cost of her life."

"Wait, the Red Death has been released!?" Jack questioned in horror, struggling to put his thoughts into words, "If the Red Death was released then how…I don't…how are you…"

"We killed him," Hiccup explained plainly.

"You killed the Red Death!?" Jack asked in shock, spinning towards North as the Rus chuckled at his reaction, "Did you know about this!?"

"Of course, Jack," North answered with a smile, "I am knowing many zeengs, after all."

"What about Mor'du?" Jack questioned, turning back to Hiccup and Fishlegs, "Did you all kill him too?"

"No," Fishlegs replied with a shake of his head, smirking as he saw Jack relax slightly.

"I killed him myself," Hiccup explained evenly, earning a shocked look from Jack, "Now, if you all wouldn't mind, if we're going to continue this conversation, I'd like to do it inside where it's warm."

As Hiccup and North began making their way into Hilde's cottage, Jack paused as he turned to address Fishlegs as the Viking teen walked by.

"Did he really kill Mor'du single handedly?" Jack questioned.

"Yep," Fishlegs replied curtly as he walked towards the cottage, Jack following behind.

"How?" Jack pressed.

"Hiccup shot him in his good eye," Fishlegs explained.

"That's all?" Jack questioned, surprised Mor'du could be brought down so easily.

"He did it with an exploding arrow that he invented," Fishlegs replied, glancing at Jack before miming an explosion from his eye, making Jack stop in his tracks from surprise.

"Oh," Jack said, his voice barely above a whisper, his face paler than usual as he followed Fishlegs into the cottage.

"I am seeing she enjoyed voodcarving," North noted as he looked around the cottage while Hiccup tried to light another fire in the firepit.

"Yeah, she did it a lot," Jack stated as he shut the door behind him, "She said it soothed her."

"I am guessing she needed ze soothing," North continued as he picked up a woodcarving depicting a roaring dragon, "She vas being your ancestor, _da, _Hiccup? Married twice, once to the great Siegfried and once…"

"To the Red Death," Hiccup finished as he managed to light a fire, casting dancing shadows across the cottage.

"Hilde never talked must about her husband, this Siegfried guy," Jack commented as he took a seat on one of the chairs, perching on the edge of the seat in a curled up position instead of actually sitting, "Who was he?"

"Seigfried the Great," Fishlegs intoned, "Uniter of the clans and dragonslayer extraordinaire. Jarl of the Norselands, Defender of the North, Chief of Chiefs and King of the Wilderwest."

"Well, that sounds important," Jack commented before turning his attention back to Hiccup, "So, why aren't you set up in some big fancy castle or something?"

"The Red Death saw an end to that," Hiccup explained, "He spent generations licking his wounds after Siegfried defeated him before coming back. He killed Siegfried's grandson and scattered the tribes once more. He would have done worse if Hilde hadn't managed to seal him away."

"Their stories seem so intertwined," Jack commented, "She said that the Red Death came back as much for her as for revenge. She said that he was obsessed with her."

Jack paused as a pensive look crossed his face.

"You know, now that I think of it, she never told me how she ended up with the Red Death in the first place," Jack commented as he looked over at the others while Hiccup and Fishlegs shared a look.

"She never told us either," Hiccup stated.

"I am theenking I am knowing vhy," North said quietly from the other side of the room. Looking over at North, the others saw him staring at a woodcarving that he clutched in his hands, his face white as a sheet. Hiccup quickly walked over to North's side as the large man dropped the woodcarving to the floor with a clatter as he stumbled back and caught himself on Hilde's workbench.

"What's wrong, North?" Hiccup questioned with concern as he scooped down and picked up the woodcarving, "What did you see?"

"Something out of a nightmare," North replied as he tried to recollect himself.

Hiccup turned the woodcarving over to look at it before looking up at North with a confused expression.

"This is a house with chicken legs," Hiccup stated as he turned the carving over to show North.

"_Da,_" North agreed with a nod of his head.

"I don't get it," Hiccup replied, turning the carving over again and looking at it with a confused expression, "Why is this so scary?"

"Eet ees not being scary for vhat eet ees," North answered as he walked over to one of the wicker chairs with a thud, "Eet ees being scary for vhat eet ees representing."

"And what exactly is it representing?" Fishlegs questioned as he walked up next to Hiccup to get a look at the woodcarving for himself.

"Baba Yaga," North answered, his voice barely above a whisper as if he were afraid to speak the words aloud.

"What is a Baba Yaga?" Hiccup questioned.

"Baba Yaga ees not being a vhat," North replied grimly, "Baba Yaga ees being a who, and who she ees being ees one of ze most dangerous vitches who has ever been living. Zat house ees being her home, an unnatural monstrosity zat used to stalk ze vild vastes of my homeland."

"That…doesn't sound good," Hiccup replied, before looking back at the carving, "Why does Hilde have a carving of her house?"

"As I'm sure you have been figuring out, zis Hilde vas like me," North explained.

"A magi," Hiccup replied with a nod.

"And like me, she needed someone to be teaching her how to be using her gift," North continued, "I have been telling you about my old master, Ombric Shalazar. I am suspecting I am knowing who vas being ze one to be teaching Hilde."

"Are you saying…are you saying this Baba Yaga person was the one who taught Hilde magic?" Jack questioned, shocked.

"_Da_," North answered with a small nod, "Zere are facts zat are adding up to zees. As Hiccup vas saying, vhy vould Hilde be carving something like zat if she vas not being familiar vith it? Then, it is telling me vhy Hilde vas ever being een ze Red Death's clutches."

"How so?" Fishlegs questioned.

"One ees not becoming ze most feared magi to ever leeve vithout meeting some specific people," North answered as he looked Hiccup in the eye.

"Pitch Black," Hiccup replied in shock as Jack's eyes went wide in surprise.

"Wait, what?" Fishlegs questioned, clearly confused, "Pitch who?"

"Baba Yaga vas being one of ze shadow's greatest servants," North explained, ignoring Fishlegs' growing confusion, "It vas being she who led his forces ze last time he vas trying to escape five hundred years ago."

"What does this have to do with the Red Death?" Fishlegs asked, trying to keep up with the conversation.

"After she vas failing to get ze shadow released, Baba Yaga must have begun planning for her next opportunity," North explained, "Vhat better ally to be having zen one of ze most powerful dragons to ever be leeving?"

"So, she sent her apprentice to try and recruit him," Jack surmised with a nod of his head, "Judging by what history tells us, I'm guessing it didn't go like she was hoping it would."

"It vould be appearing not," North agreed with a nod of his head.

"She's still out there though, isn't she?" Hiccup questioned on edge, "If Baba Yaga's on the shadow's side that means she'll be rearing what I'm sure is her ugly head at one point or another."

"_Net_," North replied with a shake of his head, "You veell not need to be vorrying about her."

"Why not?" Hiccup asked in confusion.

"Because she ees being dead," North replied grimly.

"Did…" Fishlegs paused, unsure he wanted to say what he was thinking, "Did you kill her?"

"_Net_," North answered with another shake of his head, "I vas vanting to, but by ze time I vas finding her, someone else had beaten me to it."

"Why did you want to kill her?" Hiccup questioned.

"Remember how I vas telling you how my old master vas being dead?" North questioned, earning a nod from Hiccup, "Now you are knowing ze reason why."

A quiet fell over the cottage as the others digested what North had said.

"What happened when you found her?" Jack questioned, breaking the silence.

"I had been managing to track her to ze coldest and most desolate part of ze Frozen Steppes," North explained, his eyes glassing over as he lost himself in his memory, "It vas being zere zat I vas finding her house. Or vhat vas being left of eet. All eet vas being vas a pair of chicken legs standing over a pile of ashes and a burnt corpse."

"Do you have any idea who could have done it?" Fishlegs questioned.

"For ze longest time, I vas having no idea," North answered, a grim look on his face, "But now, now I am starting to get idea."

"Why's that?" Hiccup asked.

"Vhen I vas hunting Baba Yaga, I vas hearing stories about her apprentice," North replied as he began stroking his beard again, "Eet vas said she was finding her apprentice living on a small farm, drawn to a power zat rivaled her own."

"I guess that explains how Baba Yaga found Hilde," Jack replied with a nod, "But what does this have to do with the witch's death? You don't think Hilde did it, do you?"

"_Net_," North answered with another shake of his head, "But eet deed get me to be zeenking about somezing zose stories said."

"What's that?" Fishlegs asked.

"Zey are saying zat ze reason ze source zat Baba Yaga followed vas being so powerful vas being because zere vere two sources living close together," North explained as he focused on Hiccup, who looked shocked.

"Are you saying…" Hiccup began to say before trailing off.

"I am zeenking zat Hilde had a sister," North answered with a measured nod, "I am zeenking she vas ze one who killed Baba Yaga and I am zeenking she ees ze one ve should be vorrying about."

A/N: Not as much action in this one but I think it turned out pretty good. Hope you guys liked it! As always feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	7. Heart of the Matter

**Chapter 7: The Heart of the Matter**

"So, I think I need to be brought up to speed on a few things here," Jack commented from his seat in Hilde's cottage, "Because I'm starting to feel a little lost."

"Me as well," Fishlegs agreed, "Though from the sounds of it, I don't think I'm going to like what I'm going to hear."

"You're not," Hiccup answered with a sigh, "The short version is that the living personification of darkness and fear, who was locked away millennia ago by the other great spirits, is going to be making his bi-millennial escape attempt soon and Loki, the spirit of fire, wants me to help stop it. And for whatever reason, Jack here is at the middle of it."

"I am?" Jack questioned, quirking an eyebrow in confusion.

"_Da,_" North agreed, nodding his head as he crossed his arms, "You have been seence ze moment you vere being born."

"Since I was born?" Jack parroted back, standing up as he looked at North suspiciously, "You know something about this, don't you?"

"I am knowing enough," North replied, "Vhy are you zeenking I have been following you around your whole life?"

"What aren't you telling me, North?" Jack demanded, taking a step towards the larger man, the air in the room noticeably cooling as the spirit became more agitated.

"Nozing," North insisted.

"Don't lie to me, North!" Jack snapped, causing a blast of cold air to ripple through the cottage, nearly gutting the fire under the cauldron, "I've been asking you about where I came from my whole life! You don't get to clam up now that I'm finally getting some answers out of you!"

"Zere are no answers to be getting, Jack!" North argued, "I am only knowing vhat I am being told, and I am not being told much. Just because I vas being zere vhen you vere being born is not meaning I am knowing vhy. I am being een just as much dark as you are."

"Then why don't you ask them?" Jack questioned, "Ask Loki, or Soliel, or whoever. Ask them where I come from and what I'm doing here!"

"Eet ees not vorking like zat, Jack," North replied, doing his best to keep Jack calm.

"Why not!?" Jack shouted, creating another blast of icy wind that forced Hiccup and Fishlegs back half a step as the floor underneath the spirit's feet was covered in frost.

"Because eet ees not, Jack," North answered with a sad look on his face, "Please be believing me, I vould be doing so eef I could, but ze spirits are not being beholden to me. I can be talking to ze fire, or ze sun or ze moon all day and night but zere ees being no vay for me to make zem talk back."

This seemed to relax Jack, who's shoulder's slumped in disappointment. He took a few steps back before sitting down in his chair in a defeated heap.

"Some family I've got," Jack mused, "Leave me out here without any reason why. Don't even have the decency to say hi."

Jack turned his head and looked up at Hiccup.

"Don't suppose Loki told you anything more about me, huh?" Jack questioned.

"No, I'm sorry," Hiccup answered with a shake of his head, "He only told me that you were important to whatever the shadow is planning."

"Figures," Jack mumbled as he turned his gaze to observe his feet.

"Is there anything else useful that Loki told you?" Fishlegs questioned.

"I remember he said something about how the light and dark were planning against each other," Hiccup recalled, "He made it sound like he was a third party in all of this."

"Sounds like Soliel might have a horse in this race then," Jack chimed in, "Sounds like whoever that is is pretty important."

"Do you know anything about this, North?" Hiccup questioned.

"I am not," North answered with a shake of his head, "Soliel ees not being a very chatty spirit. Not to me at least. Should not be too hard to figure zees out though."

"Speaking of plans, what's yours?" Jack questioned, turning his attention back to Hiccup.

"Huh?" Hiccup questioned in confusion.

"It seems like it was a big deal that you come and find me," Jack explained, "Now that you've found me, what do you plan to do?"

"I'm not sure, actually," Hiccup admitted with an awkward shrug, "I think the whole idea was to keep you safe from Pitch, so I guess we have to bunker down now while we figure things out."

"Good luck with that," Jack replied with a snort.

"Excuse me?" Hiccup questioned, looking at Jack in confusion.

"Listen, Sneezy," Jack began to say.

"It's Hiccup," the young man corrected, looking annoyed.

"Whatever," Jack replied before continuing, "If you hadn't figured it out by now, I'm not a big fan of sticking around in one place for too long. As much as I appreciate the help, I don't think I'll be staying that long, even if your quaint little village is improved by all the dragons."

"You say that like you've been in the village before," Fishlegs observed.

"Well, of course I have," Jack replied with a chuckle, "You don't think I'd visit here so often and not check it out, do you?"

"I'm pretty sure someone would have noticed you," Fishlegs argued.

"I don't think so," Jack replied with a grin before he suddenly disappeared, causing Hiccup and Fishlegs to jump in surprise.

"Yes, just one of my many tricks," Jack said, his voice floating ethereally through the air, making it impossible for them to figure out where he was, "Makes it pretty easy for me to get from place to place without people being any the wiser. So, trust me, I've see just about everything your village has to offer."

"Hel, I even saw that flying trip you took with that lady friend of yours," Jack continued as he reappeared crouched on the workbench right next to Hiccup, causing the young man to start in surprise, "You still haven't thanked me for saving your ass, by the way."

"That was you?" Hiccup questioned as he recollected himself.

"Well, it wasn't Thor," Jack replied with a chuckle, "Tell you what though, I do feel like sticking around for a little while longer. Maybe we can figure some out some more about this whole shadow thing."

"Fair enough," Hiccup agreed with a nod.

"We should probably be getting back to the village then," Fishlegs stated.

"_Da_," North agreed as he stood up, "After all zees excitement, I could be using a stiff drink."

"I'll put out the fire," Hiccup said as Fishlegs and North made their way out of Hilde's cottage. As Jack moved past him however, Hiccup suddenly lashed out, grabbing the spirit by the front of his tunic before pushing him against one of the walls with a soft bang.

"Hey, what the Hel!?" Jack questioned angrily.

"Shut up," Hiccup snapped, a cold rage on his face, "I'm playing nice with you because apparently doing so will save a lot of people. People I care about. And seeing as you saved me the other day, I'm willing to think you're a decent guy. But let's get one thing straight. I won't tolerate anything you did today again. Threaten my friends or so much as touch Merida again and I promise you, I will stop being nice."

As Hiccup spoke, the fire beneath the cauldron suddenly flared up, reaching upwards as if trying to consume the black iron pot above it, drawing Jack's eye to it.

"Understand?" Hiccup questioned, bringing Jack's attention back to him.

"Yeah, Belch," Jack replied, reaching up and carefully peeling Hiccup's hand off of his tunic, "I think I understand just fine."

"It's Hiccup," the young man corrected as he took a step away from Jack.

"Mhm," Jack answered dismissively as he looked over at the hotly burning fire, "So much for putting that fire out."

"Did…Did I do that?" Hiccup questioned, looking between the fire and his burnt hand.

"Probably, yeah," Jack replied with a nod, "I'm guessing whatever blessing Loki gave you works similar to my powers. If that's true, then they're tightly tied to your emotional state."

"So the angrier I get…" Hiccup began to say, looking at his burnt hand as he flexed it.

"The hotter things will get," Jack finished as he rested his crook on his shoulder, "Who knows, if you get angry enough you might be able to start fires all by yourself."

The thought seemed to scare Hiccup, his eyes going wide as he looked at his hand.

"Relax, pal, despite your little outburst just now, you don't strike me as the hot headed type," Jack said with a chuckle, "You just have to learn how to control it."

"How do I do that?" Hiccup questioned before looking to Jack, "Can you show me?"

"That seems like a real inviting deal after you just threatened me," Jack observed with a smirk before an awkward look crossed his face, "Besides, I don't have the best track record with this sort of thing."

"What do you mean by that?" Hiccup questioned, "Have you met someone with a blessing like mine before?"

"Forget it," Jack snapped defensively before turning away from Hiccup and heading towards the door, "Just trust me when I tell you that you're better off finding someone else to teach you this stuff."

"There is no one else," Hiccup replied as he reached out and grabbed Jack's sleeve, stopping the spirit and bringing his attention back to the young man, who looked at the godling with pleading eyes, "Please. I need your help."

Jack looked down at the shorter Hiccup for a moment before sighing dramatically.

"Alright, fine," Jack relented, "I'll see what I can do. Guess it will help to clean up my image around here."

"Thank you," Hiccup replied as he released his hold on Jack's sleeve and took a step back.

"Don't mention it," Jack said dismissively before he glanced over at the hotly burning fire, "We should probably be doing something about that first of all."

"Have any suggestions?" Hiccup questioned as he turned to face the fire.

"Well, since getting angry is what started the fire, you should probably try the opposite," Jack replied with a shrug.

"Wow, you're just a font of helpful information, aren't you?" Hiccup questioned sarcastically.

"I'm serious though," Jack answered, "Think of something that calms you. Something that makes you happy. Think of something you love. Or someone. That little redhead you were in such a tizzy over. Yeah, that's a good one, think of her."

At Jack's request, Hiccup closed his eyes and began to think about Merida. Quickly the image of Merida's face, smiling and giggling formed in his head, bringing a smile to Hiccup's face.

"It might help if you used the hand too," Jack spoke up suddenly as he leaned in inches away from Hiccup's face, snapping the young man out of his thoughts, "Also, try not to get to into thinking about her. I am standing right here after all."

Hiccup's only response was to glare at Jack, who quickly held up his hands and backed away from the Viking. Sighing in frustration, Hiccup closed his eyes again while holding his burnt hand out towards the fire. As Hiccup fell back into his thoughts, Jack watched as the fire began to calm, shrinking slowly at first before quickly dying as Hiccup clenched his hand into a fist, covering the cottage in shadow once more.

"And that is lesson number one," Jack said with a laugh as he pat Hiccup on the shoulder before turning and heading towards the door, "Now come on, Sniffles. Our friends are waiting for us."

"It's Hiccup," the young man mumbled half-heartedly as he looked at his hand with a small smile on his face.

"Yep," Jack replied disinterestedly as he opened the door, prompting Hiccup to walk over to him and exit as well.

"And zat ees how ze reindeer ees flying," they heard North say as they found him talking with Fishlegs with Donner standing at his side, "You are understanding now, _da_?"

"Not a bit," Fishlegs replied with a shake of his head as he made an uncomfortable face, "This is why I don't like magic. I don't think I'll ever understand it."

"Do not be worrying," North stated with a reassuring tone as he pat Fishlegs on the shoulder, "Eet ees not being for everyone."

"There you guys are," Fishlegs said as he turned to look at Hiccup and Jack, "What happened? Did you guys get lost?"

"Nah," Jack replied dismissively as he looped his arm around Hiccup's shoulders and pulled the Viking into a one-armed hug, shooting a large grin at Fishlegs, "I was just having a nice chat with Gag here."

"Hiccup," the young man corrected automatically.

"Whatever," Jack said in return.

"Well, if you two are through being buddy buddy, we should probably be getting back to the village," Fishlegs stated, indicating in the direction of the village with his head, "I want to check up on Astrid and I'm sure Hiccup wants to see how Merida is doing. They're going to be thrilled when they see we've brought our new friend here along."

"Oh boy," Jack said with a sigh as the four of them began making their way into the woods, "Can't wait."

_Later,_

Gothi stood in her kitchen, mixing a few ingredients into a bowl. As she worked, she heard the sound of a few people entering her hut and making their way down the hall towards her.

"I was wondering when you were going to come see me," Gothi stated with a small smile as she turned around, "I'm sure you're worried sick about her."

Gothi paused as she caught sight of the three young men standing behind her, her eyes going wide as she looked at them. Specifically, she looked at Jack in shock, the spirit accompanying Hiccup and Fishlegs into her home.

There was an awkward pause as Gothi continued to openly stare at Jack.

"You know, I still think it really would have been better if I had waited outside," Jack whispered to Hiccup, not taking his eyes off of Gothi as she continued to stare at him.

"Relax, it will be fine," Hiccup replied before turning his attention back to Gothi, "Gothi, I-"

Before Hiccup could say anything more, Gothi reached up and grabbed the front of his jacket before forcefully pulling him down so that he was level with her.

"You and I must speak," Gothi stated, looking directly into Hiccup's eyes before leaning to the side so she could see Jack and Fishlegs, "Excuse us for a moment would you? Fishlegs, be a dear and bring this mixture into the other room. Helga is in there with Astrid and Merida, she'll know what to do with it."

"Of course, Elder," Fishlegs replied with a nod, reaching down and taking the offered bowl from Gothi before the elder turned away and practically dragged Hiccup out of the room. As the two of them left, Fishlegs turned and exited the room the way he had come in, leaving Jack by himself.

"I'll just wait here then," Jack said with a sigh as he sat down in an old wooden chair. As he did, he noticed a Terrible Terror wander over and start sniffing around his feet. Glancing around the room, Jack could see a handful of others scattered here and there.

"And I thought too many cats was a bad thing," Jack mused as he turned his attention towards the Terror that was scurrying around his feet, "Well, at least you guys make good company."

Jack reached down to pet the Terror on the back. As he was about to touch the dragon, the Terror suddenly spun around and latched its jaws onto Jack's fingers. There was a quiet pause as Jack and the dragon looked at one another before Jack let out a small squeak of pain and stood up from the chair, shaking his hand to try and get the dragon off, but the Terror's jaws held firm as the spirit flailed its arm about, oblivious to the other Terror's moving towards him.

Meanwhile, in the other room, Gothi had finally released Hiccup as she turned to address the young man.

"What's all this about, Gothi?" Hiccup questioned as he looked at the elder in confusion.

"What all this is about is that not only did you bring a powerful and dangerous spirit into the village, you brought him into my house!" Gothi snapped at Hiccup, though she was doing her best to keep her voice below a whisper as she shot glances back towards her kitchen.

"It's alright, Gothi, trust me," Hiccup reassured her with a small smile, "I talked to him and explained everything. He's alright now."

"How can you be so sure?" Gothi questioned with a raised eyebrow, "You saw what he did to your friends. To the princess."

"Trust me," Hiccup replied a little more darkly, "We came to an understanding about all of that."

Gothi nodded slowly before smiling up at Hiccup.

"You put your trust in the oddest sorts, Hiccup," Hilde stated before reaching up and patting Hiccup on the arm, "But I put my trust in you."

"Thank you, Gothi," Hiccup replied with a smile of his own.

"Come along now," Gothi stated as she began walking around Hiccup towards the door, "I have to go check on the princess."

With a nod, Hiccup began to follow Gothi out of the room.

"Now, if what I inferred from your tone is correct, you have to be careful, Hiccup," Gothi said as they made their way out of the room, "For whatever else he might be, this Jack Frost is a great spirit, and that should grant him a healthy amount of respect."

As the two of them walked into Gothi's kitchen, a loud crash caught their attention. Looking towards the source, they found Jack standing in the middle of the kitchen, one foot in the air with a Terror dangling from it, its jaws latched onto his leg. Another hung from the fingers of one of his hands while another had latched onto his other arm. A fourth dragon sat on his head, doing its best to gnaw through his skull. Jack froze as he saw Gothi and Hiccup staring at him with wide eyes.

"Oh, oh good, you're back," he said with an embarrassed laugh, hopping on one foot to turn and face them, "I have to say, you're dragons are…pretty rambunctious."

"Gothi!" Fishlegs called as he ran into the room, sparing Jack a confused glance before looking back towards the elder, "Merida's awake!"

With that, Fishlegs turned and rushed back out of the room, Hiccup and Gothi quickly following behind, leaving Jack alone in the kitchen again.

"No, no, you go on ahead," Jack muttered to himself as he began trying to peel the Terrors off of him, "I'll be fine."

Entering the room behind Fishlegs, Hiccup found Merida laying in a bed that occupied most of the room, dressed in a long, white tunic. Astrid, her arm in a sling, was standing by her bedside, alongside another girl sitting in a chair. The girl was a few years younger than the rest of them, with brown hair done in twin braids that framed her freckled face, dressed in a simple brown dress with a black, hooded robe.

"She's just waking up," the girl said to Hiccup as he walked over to the bed and stood over Merida, watching as she slowly stirred awake. After a few moments her eyes fluttered open and focused on Hiccup standing over her.

"Hic?" she questioned hoarsely before coughing.

"Her throat is parched," the girl said as she handed a wooden bowl to Hiccup filled with a murky liquid, "Here, have her drink this."

"Thank you, Helga," Hiccup stated as he took the bowl and held it up to Merida's lips, the princess taking a few sips as she pushed herself up in the bed, making a face at the taste.

"It should warm you up a bit too," Helga said as she took the bowl back from Hiccup, "You're probably going to have a cold for a few days, but that's really the worst of it."

"Whit happened?" Merida asked, her words slurred by her stuffy nose.

"After I arrived at the fight, I had Snotlout bring you back here for Gothi to take care of you," Hiccup explained before turning his attention towards Gothi, "Where is he anyway?"

"I've been having him fetch and heat up water with your dragon," Gothi explained, "He should be back soon."

"Astrid," Merida said with a sniff as she looked at the blonde, "Yer arm."

"I've had worse," Astrid replied with a shrug, "I'll be fine."

"Whit happened te…" Merida began to say as she turned back to Hiccup only to gasp in shock as she looked past Hiccup with wide eyes. Following her gaze, everyone turned to see Jack standing in the doorway. As everyone looked at him, Jack looked back in surprise and confusion.

"What?" Jack questioned, reaching up to touch his face, "Is there something on my-"

Before Jack could finish, a wooden bowl came whizzing through the air and hit him square on the nose, the liquids it held spilling around him. Jack let out a yelp of pain as he fell to one knee, clutching his face.

Hiccup had a shocked look on his face as he turned back around to look at Merida, who still had her arm outstretched in a throwing position, a look of fury on her face. As she threw the blankets off of her and moved to get up, Hiccup reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders before pushing her back into the bed.

"Hic, whit are ye daein'!?" Merida demanded as she glared at her betrothed.

"Wait Mer, just listen to me for a second," Hiccup said, "You can't just…"

"No, no, it's okay," Jack interrupted as he stood up, still pinching his nose in pain, "I deserved that."

As Jack looked back towards them, a glass jar suddenly came flying at him and broke against his head.

"Alright, can we remove small, throwable objects from her reach please?" Jack questioned as he clutched the side of his head.

"Merida, stop!" Hiccup said as he reached out and grabbed her arm just as the princess was about to throw another jar at Jack, forcing her to drop it.

"Hiccup, whit th' Hel is gaein' on!?" Merida growled as she continued to glare at the young man as she wrenched her arm from his grasp.

"Look, I talked to him and we figured out this was a big misunderstanding," Hiccup explained, "He was just as upset about Hilde's death as we were and he overreacted."

"Overreacted!?" Merida asked incredulously, "Hiccup, he tried tae kill me! Why did ye bring him here!?"

"Because we need him, Merida!" Hiccup argued, "He's the key to all of this, everything that Loki and North have been telling us!"

"If he's th' key tae everythin', then why daennae we jist kill him!?" Merida questioned, "'At way, th' shadow can ne'er get his hands on him."

"No, Merida," Hiccup replied, a shocked look on his face, "We're better than that. You're better than that."

"Hiccup, he tried tae kill me!" Merida shouted angrily.

"And you tried to kill me the first time we met!" Hiccup snapped back in frustration, "And where would we be if I had tried to kill you back!?"

Merida flinched back as if she had been struck, tears welling up in her eyes as she looked up at Hiccup in shock. It was in that moment Hiccup knew he had made a mistake as dread filled his heart.

"Get oot," Merida whispered as her sadness slowly turned to anger.

"Merida, I-" Hiccup began to say.

"GET OOT!" Merida shouted, tears running down her face before turning away from Hiccup.

Hiccup flinched back away from her fury, a pained look on his face. He tried to say something but was stopped as Gothi reached up and touched his arm.

"Perhaps we should let the princess have some rest," Gothi suggested, "I believe we've all had enough excitement for the day."

Hiccup looked at Gothi for a moment before glancing at Merida, who was still facing away from him with her arms crossed. Sighing sadly, Hiccup nodded in reply before turning and leaving with Gothi.

"Fishlegs, be a dear and help Helga, would you?" Gothi asked, glancing back at the young man as she walked out with Hiccup.

"Of course, Elder," Fishlegs replied with a nod before reaching down and scooping Helga out of her seat. Reaching out, Astrid pat Merida on the knee before standing up as well, gathering up Helga's crutches as she followed Fishlegs.

"Hey, so this is probably a bad time," Jack said as Fishlegs and Astrid walked by him, "But I just wanted to say no hard feel-"

Before Jack could finish, Astrid wordlessly checked him into the wall with her shoulder, stepping over him as Jack slid down the wall with a groan of pain. For a moment, Jack sat on the floor nursing his wounds. Looking up, he saw Merida sitting in the bed, facing away from the doorway. Jack quickly glanced to the side and watched as the others left before he vanished into thin air.

As soon as she was sure that the others were gone, Merida broke down, burying her face into her hands as her body was wracked with sobs. For a few moments, there was no sounds in the cottage expect that of Merida's crying, a few of Gothi's Terrors peeking into the room to watch her sadly.

"So," Jack's voice said as he reappeared at the foot of the bed, causing Merida to snap her head up in surprise, "I'm guessing you're the type of girl who doesn't like people seeing her cry."

"Ah thought Ah told ye tae get oot!" Merida snapped as she wiped her nose on the back of her sleeve.

"Listen princess, I know you and I-" Jack began to say before pausing to snag the jar that Merida had tossed at his head out of the air with his free hand, "Ha! I was ready for you that time!"

"Whit th' Hel dae ye want?" Merida demanded with a growl.

"Like I was saying before you interrupted," Jack answered as he unscrewed the top of the jar and took a curious sniff of its contents, making a disgusted face before resealing it and setting it to the side, "You and I got off on the wrong foot. That's my fault, no way of getting around it."

Merida said nothing in reply, crossing her arms and glaring at Jack.

"I should have heard you out, I can see that now," Jack continued, the smile slowly falling from his face, "I could have prevented a lot of things if I had. Including that little spat you had with Hitchup there."

"It's Hiccup," Merida replied automatically, bringing a small smile to Jack's face, "An' 'at's nae any o' yer business."

"Maybe not," Jack admitted with a shrug, "But I do feel I should tell you that you've got him all wrong."

"An' how dae ye figure 'at?" Merida questioned as she continued to glare at Jack.

"You're hurt because you don't think he cares about you as much as you thought," Jack explained, "You understand his reasoning, but deep down in that selfish little part of your heart you wish he'd put you ahead of the fate of the world. Well, let me tell you, sister, he does."

"How dae ye know 'at?" Merida questioned, some of her anger fading from her face.

"He told me," Jack answered, "Trust me, there's a reason I'm standing all the way over here. Your boy said that if I so much as touched you, well…"

Jack finished by running his thumb across his throat as he let his tongue dangle out the side of his mouth and made a crackling noise from the back of his throat.

"He said 'at?" Merida asked in surprise.

"In so many words," Jack replied with another shrug, "He's a good guy and you're everything to him. Guy would die for you."

"Ah'm sae stupid," Merida whispered as she wiped tears from her eyes, "Ah always hurt people Ah care aboot."

"Nah, see," Jack said, pointing at Merida, "Your problem is you let the guilt eat you up inside."

There was a pause as Merida looked at Jack in confusion.

"How dae ye dae 'at?" Merida questioned.

"Do what?" Jack asked in reply.

"Know whit Ah'm feelin' like ye jist did," Merida elaborated, "It's like ye can jist…look right through me."

"It's just one of the many quirks of being me," Jack replied with a chuckle that quickly died, "It's something I've always been able to do. I can just look someone in the eye and know what they're all about."

As he spoke, Jack looked over at Merida, his clear blue eyes meeting her icy blue ones.

"Their emotions, their hopes, their dreams," Jack explained, "Their fears. I can see it all."

"Why?" Merida questioned.

"You might as well ask me why my hair is white," Jack replied with a snort, "It's who I am princess."

Merida seemed to except this answer as the two of them fell into silence again.

"I hope this means you're not going to try to kill me anymore," Jack spoke up, "Getting my life threatened so many times in one day is pretty exhausting."

"Ah hae tae gae an' apologize tae Hic," Merida said as she began to pull herself out of the bed.

"You need to rest," Jack insisted, walking over to the side of the bed and holding his hand up to Merida, "No one knows what I did to you better than me. There will be plenty of time for you to apologize to him."

As Jack spoke, the sounds of a commotion could be heard coming from outside. A look of confusion on his face, Jack made his way over to a window to have a look at what was going on.

"Whit's happenin'?" Merida questioned with another sniffle.

"I get the feeling your boy's going to be busy for a while," Jack answered before he turned to look at her, "Because it looks to me like all your dragons just decided to up and leave."

A/N: So, I just have to say now that we've reached the point where he's started to loosen up, Jack has become insanely fun to write. I basically had to have him do or say something funny in every scene I had him in. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this one because I had a lot of fun writing it. As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later, and Happy Thanksgiving!


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